na. 


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7 


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1 

If 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ON 


NUMERALS 


IN 


AMERICAN  INDIAN   LANGUAGES 


AND  THE 


INDIAN   MODE  OF  COUNTING. 


By  J    HAMMOND  TRUMBULL,  LL.D. 


I  From  the  Transactions 


of  the  Am.  Philological  ABSOciation,  1874.1 


HARTFORD,   CONN. 

1875. 


If.    iltttliimr  V"-^ 


-  W  - 

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j-mntiMSiiiiUtu 


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.T7 


ON  NUMERALS 


IN  AMERICAN  INDIAN  LANGUAGES, 
AND  THE  INDIAN  MODE  OF  COUNTING. 


That  "all  miinerals  are  derived  from  the  fingers'"  is 
as  generally  true  for  languages  of  the  new  world  as  for 
those  of  the  old.  The  North  American  Indians  have, 
with  comparatively  few  exceptions,  adopted  decimal  systems, 
reckoning  the  fingers  of  Iwth  hands.  Some  South  American 
trihes  have  not  advanced  heyond  a  qimmri/ ;  and  a  few  are 
said  to  be  poorer  even  than  this.  The  Brazilian  Tupis  had, 
at  one  time,  no  names  for  numbers  higher  than  3,'^  and  the 
Abipones  of  Paraguay,  as  Dobrizhoffer  states,^  could  not  count 
beyond  4,  giving  to  that  number  the  name  of  '  the  ostrich's 
toes,'  geyenknute.  Some  nations,  particularly  those  of  Mexico 
and /Central  America,  and  the  Eskimos,  have  reckoned  by 
twenties  instead  of  tens  of^ves,  counting  toes  with  fingers 
for  the  base  of  their  numeral  system.  The  Ti.le  Indians  of 
Dariep  reckon  in  this  way  :  2U  ia  '  a  man,'  i.  e.  all  his  fingers 

1 "  Alle  Zahlwortcr  gehn  aus  von  den  Fingern  der  Hande."  —  Grimm's  Gescli.-. 
der  deutschen  Sprache,  i.  167. 

'•'The  fact  that  the  Tupis  lost  their  names  for  4  and  5,  after  the  coming  of 
Europeans,  is  worth  noting.    J.  de  Lery,  who  was  in  Brazil  in  1557,  writes  that 

the  "  Tououpenambaults usque  ad  numcrum  quinque  verbis  notare,  hoc 

mode:  augepe  I,  mocouein  2,  mossapiU  3,  oioicoudic  4,  ecoinbo  5."  —  Hist  Navig.  in 
Brasiliam,  1586,  p.  272.  (In  the  5,  we  recognize  po  'hand.')  Jos.  de  Anchieta, 
in  his  Tupi  Grammar,  1595,  says:  "Os  numeraes  nao  chegao  mais  quo  ate 
numero  de  quatro:  nt  oiepS  1,  mocdi"  2,  mogapir  3,  oyoirundic  4."  Eckart,  a  Jesuit 
missionary  in  Brazil,  1753-57,  gives  the  same  names  for  1,  2,  and  3,  adding: 
"  Non  plus  ultra  Brasili  hodie  numerant,"  though  he  had  seen  names  for  4  and  5 
(monherondyq,  ambd)  in  ' an  ancient  grammar  by  Father  Anchieta' ;  "  sed  uterqae 
hie  numeruB  mode  jam  exolevit."  —  Specimen  Ling.  BrasilicK,  1778. 

*  DobrizhofTer's  account  of  the  Abipones,  ii.  1 68. 
1 


'im 


)eh 


§ 


J.  If.   Trumhttll, 


and  toes,  100  is  T)  men,'  and  so  on.^  Gallatin  has  given  a 
good  account  of  these  vigesimal  systems  in  his  "  Notes  on  the 
semi-civilized  Nations  of  Mexico,"  etc.,"'  tlie  substance  of 
which  was  incorporated  l)y  Pott  in  his  Ziihlmethode  (Halle, 
1847).  Mr.  CJallalin  had  i)reviously  observed,  in  a  note  to 
his  Comparative  Vocabulary  of  fifty-three  North  American 
nations, "  that  all  these  had  resorted  to  a  decimal  numeration." 
More  recently,  Busclinmnn  has  shown'  that  the  system  of  the 
Athapascan  family  is  clearly  decimal,  exhibiting  traces  of  the 
vigesimal  in  two  languages  only  — the  Umpqua  of  Oregon 
and  the  Kinai ;  while  of  the  languages  of  his  Sonora  group 
(including  the  Comanche,  Paiute,  Pima,  and  Shoshoni),  seven 
have  the  decimal  and  five  the  vigesimal  system,  one  (the 
Taralnnnara)  possessing  both.'  In  some  dialects,  indications 
of  a  former  vigesimal  system,  abandoned  for  or  in  progress  of 
change  to  a  decimal,  may  be  observed. 

The  derivation  of  numerals  from  the  fingers  admitted,  an 
answer  to  the  question,  Iti  what  ordrr  are  the  fingers  counted? 
l)ecomes  a  necessary  preliminary  to  the  investigation  of  any 
table  of  numerals.  Which  finger  marks  '  one '  ?  Is  it  the 
little  finger  —  or,  as  in  the  designation  of  numbers  by  educated 
deaf-mutes,  the  thumb  ?  And,  in  passing  from  5  to  6,  i.  e. 
from  one  hand  to  the  other,  is  the  sequence  from  finger  to 
finger —  thumb  to  thumb,  like  the  Zulu'  — or  thumb  to  little 
finger,  like  the  Veis  ? 

Nearly  all  the  information  given  by  Gallatin  and  Pott  on 
these  points  relates  to  the  Eskimo  numerals.  In  the  language 
of  "  the  Eskimos  of  Hudson's  Bay,  the  names  of  the  numerals 
8,  9,  10.  mean  respectively,  the  middle,  the  fourth,  and  the 

*  See  Lull's  Darien  Vocabulary,  in  the  Am.  Philol.  Associiition's  Transactions 

for  1873,  p.  103. 

6  Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  vol.  i.  (1845). 

B  Worttafel  des  Athapask.  Sprachstamms,  §§114,  115,  157. 

'  Grammatik  der  Sonorischen  Sprachen,  Abth.  3,  p.  141. 

8  "  The  Zulu,  counting  on  his  fingers,  begins  in  general  with  the  little  finger  of 
his  left  hand.  When  he  comes  to  5,  this  he  may  call  edesaiita  '  finish  hand ' ;  then 
he  goes  on  to  the  thumb  of  the  right  hand,  and  so  the  word  tnlisilupa  '  taking  the 
thumb '  becomes  a  numeral  for  6."— Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  i.  228.  "  The 
Vei  people  and  many  other  African  tribes  first  count  the  fingers  of  their  left  hand, 
beginning,  be  it  remembered,  from  the  little  one,  then  in  the  same  manner  those 
of  the  right  hand."  — Id.  227. 


H 


<• 


^       * 


tmtimtm 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  Languages. 


3 


%♦ 


ii 


J^"  * 


little  finger.'"  Pott,  transferring  this  from  Gallatin,  infers 
(Zahlmethode,  JJOl)  that  the  thunih  of  the  second  hand 
designates  6,  i.  e.  1  +  5  of  the  first  hand.  The  account  given 
hy  Cranz,'"  of  the  Eskimo  mode  of  counting,  is  quoted  by 
Pott  as  the  starting  poin*:  of  his  work  :  "  Their  numerals  fall 
very  short.  However,  they  can  with  difficulty  make  a  shift 
to  mouiit  as  high  as  20,  by  counting  the  fingers  of  botli  hands 
and  the  toes  of  both  feet.  But  their  proper  numeration  is 
five  :  attau><elc,  1  —  arloik,  2  — j^ingojuak,  3  —  sismmat,  4  — 
tdlimat,  5.  If  they  nnist  go  further,  they  begin  witli  the 
other  hand,  counting  upon  their  fingers.  The  sixth  [i.e.  the 
thumb]  they  call  arhennek,  but  the  rest,  till  10,  have  no  other 
names  but,  again,  '  two,'  '  three,'  '  four,'  '  five.'  Tlicy  call 
'  eleven  '  arkaugat,  and  '  sixteen '  arbarsanget,  and  these 
-teens  they  count  upon  their  toes.  Thus  they  muster  up  20. 
Sometimes  they  say  instead  of  it, '  a  man,'  that  is,  as  many 
fingers  and  toes  as  a  man  has ;"  etc. 

That  the  fingers  of  the  two  hands  were  counted  by  other 
North  American  nations  in  the  same  order  as  by  the  Eskimos, 
several  writers  inform  us : 

"  The  Dakotas,  in  counting,  use  their  fingers,  bending  them 
down  as  they  pass  on,  until  they  reach  ten.  Then  they  turn 
down  a  little  finger,  to  remind  them  that  one  ten  is  laid  away, 
and  commence  again.  When  the  second  ten  is  counted, 
another  finger  goes  down,  and  so  on." '  "  The  Aubsdroke  or 
Crows  [who  are  of  the  Dakota  stock]  like  all  the  Indians 
with  whom  I  am  acquainted,"  says  Dr.  P.  V.  Hayden,  "  use 
their  fingers  in  counting,  bending  them  down  temporarily 
against  the  inside  of  the  hand  •■■.s  they  proceed,"  etc.* 

Mr.  Say,  describing  thel....-?n  sign-language,  says:  "To 
indicate  the  digits,  they  clenci  the  hands  and  extend  the 
little  finger  of  the  left  hand  for  one,  the  ring  finger  for  two," 

'Gallatin's  "Notes  on  the  Semi-Civilized  Nations  of  Mexico,"  etc.  («<  supra), 
p.  49. 

1"  History  of  Greenland  (English  translation,  i.  225).  The  Greenland  numeral 
system  is  more  clearly  and  accurately  exhibited  by  O.  Fabricius,  Gronlandsk 
Grammatik,  58-63. 

1  Kiggs,  Dakota  Grammar,  p.  36. 

*  Contributions  to  the  Ethnography  and  Philology  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Missouri  Valley,  u.  396. 


4 


\  !     M 


,,;fe. 


P- 


4  J.  H.   Trvnihull, 

and  so  on  to  "the  tlmuil)  for  five,  .  .  .  the  thumb  of  the  right 
hand  for  six,"  etc.  "  When  enumeratin^r  a  small  number, 
where  a  considerable  exertion  of  the  memory  is  requisite,  the 
Indians  extend  the  left  hand  with  the  palm  upward,  whilst, 
with  the  index  of  the  ri^lit,  the  fingers  are  successively  bent 
in  to  the  palm,  l)eginning  as  before  with  the  little  Jin(/cr,  and 
the  greater  difficulty  in  recalling  to  mind  the  numbers  or 
events,  tiie  more  ap[)arent  rosislauce  is  offered  to  the  intlexion 
of  the  finger.''^  Prince  Maximilian  von  Wiud  '  gives  a  similar 
description,  observing  that  "  wenn  man  an  den  Fingern 
alizilblt,  so  fiingt  man  an  der  lin/coi  ILtnd  an."  Mr.  Swan, 
in  his  account  of  the  ]\Iakalis  of  Caj)e  Flattery  (Straits  of 
Fuca),  says  of  their  mode  of  counting:  "They  commence 
with  the  little  finger  of  the  left  hand,  closing  each  finger  as 
it  is  counted  ;  then  pass  from  the  left  thumb,  which  counts 
five,  to  the  right  thuml),  which  counts  six,  and  so  on  to  the 
little  finger  of  tiic  right  hand,  which  counts  ten."' 

The  Muskokis  (Creeks),  Mrs.  A.  E.  W.  Robertson  writes, 
'•  turn  the  back  of  the  hand  towards  the  face  and,  beginning 
with  the  left  hand  little  finger,  end  with  the  right  hand  little 
linger."  In  continued  intercourse  with  the  whites,  the 
Creeks,  like  some  other  tribes,  have  learned  to  indicate 
numbers  by  holding  up  instead  of  bendiwj  dotvn  the  fingers : 
but,  as  Mr.  Say  observes,  ''  when  any  considerable  exertion  of 
the  memory  is  requisite "  Indians  naturally  recur  to  the 
earlier  mode.  Major  J.  W.  Powell  informs  me,  that  the 
Yutes  commonly  answer  the  question  "how  many?"  by 
raising  the  fingers,  but  he  has  seen  Indians  of  that  nation, 
when  alone,  reckon  numbers  by  turning  down  the  fingers 
successively,  from  left  to  right,  in  the  manner  described  by 
Say. 

Whether  an  Indian  marks  '  one '  by  a  thumb  or  a  finger 
does  not  seem  at  first  sight  a  question  of  much  interest  to 
students  of  language.  It  is,  however,  one  of  the  thousand 
questions  which  every  philologist  must  be  prepared  to  answer 

^Long's  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  (Philadelphia,  1823),  i.  388. 

*  Ueise  in  das  Innere  von  Nord-America,  Bd.  ii.  6SU. 

''Indians  of  Cape  Flattery  (Smithsonian  Contributions,  vol.  xvi.),  p.  100,  ncte. 


;  -i^ltf<^t.lMll<fTni-nl 


-^f^'mep-v^'ti  iT-TTir; '  ;r''j'^'' 


*■!* 


On  Nuxicrah  in  American  Indian  Languagt's. 


5 


/f 


i 


before  ho  is  fully  competent  to  discuss  the  sulijcct  of  Mr. 
Robert  ElHs's  lately  published  volume  "  On  Numerals  as 
Sij^iis  of  Primeval  Unity  among  Mankind"  (London,  187.'5). 
Mr.  Ellis  thinks  that  he  has  detected  "  a  great  number  of 
coincidences,  aU'ecfing'  not  only  numerals,  but  also  the  names 
of  the  memliers  of  the  body  from  which  those  numerals  are 
derived,  in  languages  far  removed  from  each  other  in  position," 
and  he  presents  these  coincidences  as  "  tho  result  of  primeval 
affinity  —  indications  of  unity  of  origin  in  human  speech  and, 
probably,  in  the  human  race "  (p.  4).  He  assumes  that 
"  the  names  of  numerals  commonly  carry  in  themselves  the 
proofs  of  their  own  great  antiquity"  (f).  2).  For  the  Indo- 
European  and  Semitic  languages  this  assumption  is  perhaps 
well  grounded ;  for  the  American,  it  is  untrustworthy  and 
iinsustained  by  evidence,  exce[)t  —  for  reasons  to  1)C  mentioned 
presently  —  as  regards  names  for  the  first  three  numerals 
in  languages  of  the  same  linguistic  group.  Admitting  tho 
original  unity  of  American  speech,  it  is  yet  certain  that  its 
division  into  widely  sejjarated  families  must  have  preceded 
the  origin  not  of  numerals  oidy,  but  of  the  verbal  or  nominal 
roots  from  which  names  of  numerals  in  the  several  families 
were  derived.  Even  in  the  same  linguistic  group  these 
names,  as  compared  with  other  portions  of  the  vocabulary, 
carry  no  indications  of  high  antiquity,  but  rather  the  contrary ; 
and  in  dialects  of  the  same  language  names  for  the  same 
number  are  often  radically  unlike.  Compare,  for  example, 
the  Algonkin  '  fives ' :  Massachusetts  napanna  taJishe,  Micmac 
ndn,  Chippeway  ndnan,  Abnaki  barenesku,  Delaware  palenach, 
Illinois  miaranui,  Blackfoot  nisito.  Such  dissimilarity  is  more 
apparent  and  more  general  in  numerals  above  'five,'  which  are 
with  few  exceptions  composite.  The  Arikaras  or  '  Riccarees ' 
of  the  upper  Missouri  speak  nearly  the  same  language  as  th.d 
Pawnees  and,  probably  at  no  very  remote  period,  belonged 
to  the  same  nation.  Their  numerals  correspond  with  the 
Pawnee  numerals,  to  '  five,'  inclusive  ;  but  here  the  likeness 
ends,  not  merely  the  names  but  the  primary  conceptions  of  the 
higher  numbex'S  differing  in  the  two  dialects.  One  Yuma 
dialect  of  the  Colorado,  the  Mojave,  repeats  1,  2,  3,  in  the 
2 


L 


SUmli. 


iinywiif^— 


■MMM 


!•■ 


6 


J.  IL  T,-umf>,ill, 


:\  r 


iianicB  for  fl,  7,  and  H,  niul  marks  0  as  '  next  to  ton ' ;  another, 
the  Cuchan,  near  akin,  regards  6  and  1),  rcspoctively,  as  a 
pair  and  a  triplet  of'  threes,'  and  H  as  a  douI)led  4.  All  these 
in  some  sense  "  geliii  ans  von  den  Fingern,"  Imt  the  same 
finger  of  the  same  hand  or  the  liand  itself  may  be  —  and  in 
fact  very  often  is — ditilL'rently  nunied,  or  the  nnniber  it  marks 
is  difTorently  expressed,  by  tribes  speaking  dialects  of  the  same 
langnage  ;  nor  may  we  expect  always  to  find  names  either  of 
'  hand  '  or  '  finger '  in  the  numeral. 

In  the  investigation  of  the  origin  of  American  numerals 
and  in  inferences  as  to  their  antiquity,  two  facts  must  be 
borne  in  mind  : 

1.  The  primitive  mode  of  indicating  numbers  by  the/H^«T« 
is  still  in  use.  The  tiaine  is  not  completely  independent  of 
the  sign,  and,  consequently,  the  constancy  of  the  name  in 
passing  from  one  dialect  to  another  is  less  assured.  When 
an  Indian  marks  '  five '  by  showing  or  bending  down  all  the 
fingers  of  his  left  hand,  the  vocal  utterance  —  whether  ndnan 
or  bareufsku  —  is  of  secondary  importance.  In  the  Indo- 
European  languages  the  vocal  was  long  ago  substituted  for 
the  digital  expression.  "  It  was  no  easy  task  for  the 
linguistic  faculty  to  arrive  at  a  suitable  sign,"  as  the 
exclusive  designation  of  a  number,  "  and  when  the  sign 
was  once  found,  it  maintained  itself  thenceforth  iu  use 
every  where,  without  danger  of  replacement  by  any  other, 
of  later  coinage."'  But  this  is  necessarily  true  only  of 
languages  iu  which  the  earlier  sign  —  by  show  of  fingers  — 
is  obsolete. 

2.  The  origin  of  names  for  '  one,'  '  two,'  and  probably 
*  three,'  in  all  languages,  preceded  formal  numeration. 
Pairs,  couples,  doubles,  were  known  before  '  two '  was 
counted  on  or  marked  by  the  fingers.  The  conception  of 
duality  dates  from  the  first  conscious  separation  of  the  'not-I' 
from  the  'I':  and,  with  the  first  perception  of  ditferences 
in  the  'not-I'  —  as  'this'  and  'that,'  'here'  and  'yonder,' 
'  thou '  and  '  he,'  '  before '  and  '  after,'  came  the  notior  nd 
J  iduie  of '  three,'  as  something  '  beyond,'  '  besides,'  or  'above' 

"Whitney,  Language  und  the  Study  of  Language,  195. 


N 


! 


■ 


On  Numeraln  In  American  Indian  Lnnguagea.  7 

(tar,  tri,  trniis,  tros,  tries')  the  primary  distinction;  and 
tlioroupon,  the  exclusive  and  inclusive  dual,  '  tliou-ho '  (and 
not  '  I'), ' I-tliou '  (and  not '  lie  ')  ;  after  this,  the  conception 
of  phmdit//,  and  numeration.  Some  nations,  as  we  have 
seen,  never  advanced  beyond  the  '  three.'  Others  (to  bo 
mentioned  hereafter)  only  found  their  way  to  '  ten '  by  help 
of 'pairs'  and  'triplets.'  Hence,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  observcct 
of  American  languages  generally,  "  there  is  much  confusion 
and  but  little  regularity  in  the  formation  of  the  names 
expressing  the  higher  numbers,"  even  in  nearly  related 
dialects. 

Mr.  Ellis's  first  group  of  coincidences,  and  the  one  he 
regards  as  most  important  of  all,  includes  North  American 
words  "of  which  different  names  for  'finger'  supply  the 
elements."  These  words,  ho  thinks,  "  sufficiently  illustrate 
the  manner  in  which  names  for  'finger'  and  'hand'  are 
employed  to  form  numerals ;  and  by  showing,  moreover,  that 
hand  miiy  =  fingers  =  finger-finger  {\\\\\d\  last  would  be  the 
rude  plural  of  j^w^/fr),  they  explain  how  'hand'  and  'two' 
may  be  the  same  word,  as  in  the  Omaha  nomba  which  has 
both  these  meanings"  (p.  6).  He  goes  on  to  detect  in  the 
Basque  language  terms  for  '  finger,'  '  one,  i.  o.  finger,'  and 
'five  =  hand  =  fingers=finger-finger,'  that  correspond  nearly 
with  terms  derived  from  North  American  languages,  and 
finds  coincidences  with  one  or  another  of  these  in  European  and 
Asiatic  names  for  '  thumb," finger,'  'palm,'  'five," six," arm,' 
'ten,'  etc.  (pp.  13, 14).  He  suggests  the  probability  that  "the 
Aryan  languages  virtually  cutain  the  forms  svas  and  saz  for 
'  five,'  as  the  Basque  contains  zaz  and  as  the  North  American 
languages  contain  forms  like  azbaz,  such  as  Natchez  i»peiihe 
'  hand.'  "  And  he  argues  (.p.  18)  that  "  if  the  resemblances 
between  all  these  s  fives,  as  they  may  be  called  by  way  of 
definition,  were  sufficient  to  imply  affinity  wherever  they 
were  detected,  such  affinity  could  be  no  other  than  a  primeval 
one,"  —  an  inference  the  justice  of  which  no  one  is  likely  to 
question.  Even  those  much-vexed  Etruscan  dice  of  Toscanella 
are  made  to  testify  to  primeval  unity  ;  for  why  may  not  much 
[conjectured  by  Mr.  Isaac  Taylor  to  stand  for]  'one,'  be 


if 


-«  ^T.'»3Vi^^"t'" 


wmmmm 


8 


J.  H.   Trumlmll, 


I 


connected  Avitli  "California  (Sekumiic)  ma  '  liand '"  and 
"  Coniaiiclie  »j(wa  '  linnu,' '  aim,' "  as  well  as  with  Siamese 
mec  '  hand,'  Armenian  mi  and  Greek  ^kt  '  one,'  and  African 
(Melon)  moe  '  finger '  ? 

Rigidly  examined,  these  and  a  host  of  other  coincidences 
which  Mr.  Ellis  with  much  ingenuity  presents,  would  prove 
to  be  less  remarkable  than  they  seem  to  him.  It  is  not  my 
purpose,  however,  to  discuss  them  in  detail,  or  to  seek  for 
them,  collectively,  any  other  explanation  than  the  one  which 
I  am  assured  in  advance  "is  not  satisfactory"  —  namely, 
that  so  far  as  they  are  not  imaginary,  they  "  are  merely 
accidental."  I  propose  instead  to  make  some  observations 
on  the  composition  and  primary  meaning  of  Indian  names 
for  numbers,  and  first,  to  t  oint  out  such  relation  as  I  can 
find  between  some  of  these  and  names  for  the  hand  and 
the  fingers.  The  examples  will  be  taken  chiefly  —  but  not 
exclusively  —  from  two  great  families  of  North  American 
speech,  the  Algonkin  and  the  Dakota,  because,  in  these, 
published  grammars  and  dictionaries  facilitate  etymological 
research  and  afford  means  of  noting  differences,  phonetic 
and  radical,  between  names  in  one  and  other  dialects  of  the 
same  stock. 

I.  In  some  languages  we  find  only  one  name  for  '  hand ' 
and  'fingers'  collectively;  and  generally,  for  designating 
the  fingers  individually,  names  are  formed  from  the  word  for 
'hand,'  with  a  descriptive  prefix,  e.g.  the  third  finger  is 
'  middle  of  the  iiand.' 

Pott  (Ziihlmethode,  234  ff.)  has  given  illustrations  from 
American  languages  of  the  recognition  of  a  likeness  bp^^woen 
me7i  and  trees,  and  of  figures  of  speech  drawn  from  iv.  liie 
arms  are  '  limbs'  or  '  branches'  qf  the  human  'trunk' ;  the 
hands  and  fingers  are  'branches'  of  the  arms;  the  fingers 
'  sprouts '  or  '  leaves ' ;  the  thumb  a  '  spur '  or  '  oii-[;]ioot.' 
Sometimes  the  fingers,  collectively,  are  a  '  roAV  of  branches,' 
or  a  '  fence.'     Compare 

Dakota  .  nape  '  hand ' ;  napsvkdza  ('small  piece  of  hand ')  '  finger.' 

Iowa  nuwe  '  hand ' ;  nawepa  {'  hand  jioint ')  '  finger.' 

Chippeway         -nindj  'hiuul' ;  hhilt  'in  a  row';  -ikwan  'branch';  binakxanindj 
'  linger,'  '  (one  of)  a  row  of  branches  of  the  hand.' 


-3^ 


'^m^' 


%/ 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  Languages.  9 

Massachusetts      -nulch  '  hand ; '  pnclii ' divided ' ;  pochatiik  ' a  brr.nili,  or  division ' ; 

pochanutch  'a  finger.''' 
Cree  (Western)  -tchihhiy  'hand';  yiyiki  'forlced,'  'branching';  yujikUchitch.ln 
'finger.'' 

In  some  of  the  Algonkin  languages,  the  name  for  '  hand ' 
seems  to  be  formed  from  a  verbal  root  meaning  '  to  seize,' 
'  to  lay  hold  of :  anun  '  he  lays  hold  of,  catches,'  anutch  'the 
layer  hold  of,  the  seizer';  -nutch  (with  pronominal  prefix) 
'hand.'  In  the  western  Cree,  -tchiuMy  (in  composition, 
otcW)  'hand'  is  from  the  same  root  as  the  Mass.  -tchan 
'nose'  (Chip,  odjanj),  whicli  is  found  again  in  uio  final 
tchdn  of  Cree  'finger,'  meaning  'projecting,'  'point,'  'vertex.' 
The  names  for  'nose,'  '  nead,'  'fore-arm,'  'hand,'  in  the 
Dakota  are  apparently  related  one  to  another,  their  common-' 
root  denoting  '  pointed,'  '  a  projection,  vertex,  or  extremity.' 
Compare  with  Dakota  pe  '  pointed,  sharp,'  pe  '  top  of  the 
head,'  pa  '  head,'  paha  '  hill,'  pa-sH  '  beak  or  bill,'  '  snout 
of  an  animal,'  aj^d  '  a  part,'  ap^  '  a  leaf,'  '  a  fin,'  etdpa  '  the 
right  hand,'  ishpd  '  the  fore-arm ' ;  and  Iowa  ndwe  '  hand,' 
ndwe  '  leaf,'  naw^pa  '  finger,'  pa  '  nose,'  pa-thukh  '  beak.' 


'Compare  Hawaiian  lima  'arm'  and  'hand';  manamdna  'branching,'  'a 
brancn'  (rednpl.  of  mann  'to  be  divided,'  'to  branch');  mammami  lima  'fingers.' 

"My  principal  authorities  for  Aloonkin  languages  are:  Masmchmetts,  Kiiot's 
Indian  Grammar  and  version  of  the  Bible;  Chippewai/,  Baraga's  Otcliipw6 
Dictionary  and  Grammar;  Cree,  Lacombe's  Grammairc  ct  Dictionnaire  do  la 
Langno  des  Oris,  and  (Hudson's  Bay  dialect)  Howse's  Cree  Grammar; 
Delaware,  Zeisberger's  Grammar,  and  Vocabulary ;  Almaki,  Haslcs's  Dictionary, 
by  Pickering;  Micmac,  Maillard's  Grammar;  Dr.  Hayden's  Vocabularies  of 
the  Dlackfoot,  Shi/eme,  Arapoho,  and  Atsina.  For  the  Dakota,  my  chief 
reliance  is,  necessarily,  the  invaluable  Dictionary  compiled  by  the  Rev.  8.  R. 
Riggs  and  his  associates  in  the  Dakota  mission  of  the  American  Board; 
and  for  other  dialects,  Dr.  W.  Matthews's  Uidatsa  (Minitari)  Dictionary,  Dr! 
Hayden's  Assiniboin,  Auhsuroke  (Crow),  Mandan,  Omaha,  Iowa,  and  Winnebago 
Vocabularies,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Hamilton's  loua  Grammar ;  for  the  Ponka  numerals, 
a  primer,  "Ponka  ABC  Wa-ba-ru"  (prepared  by  the  Rev.  J.  Owen  Dorsey,  of 
the  Episcopal  mission);  and  for  the  Osaije,  Prince  Maximilian  von  Wied-Neuwied's 
Vocabulary,  compared  with  Gallatin's  (in  his  Comparative  Vocabulary). 

The  vowels  arc  to  be  sounded  as  in  German,  except  u  which  is  the  short 
English  u  in  but,  or  the  neutral  vowel,  variously  represented  in  vocabularies  as 
a,  fi,  u,  and  V.  For  the  n  which  marks  a  nasalized  vowel,  I  have  substituted  a 
■superior'  C),  and  for  the  gutturals  — variously  represented  by  ch,  H,  h,  Xy 
etc.  —  I  have  used  cii  or  kk.  The  italic  ch  has  the  English  sound  (as  in  church), 
atid  th,  sh,  and  zh  (used  interchangeably  with  j)  are  as  iu  English. 


w 


m 


iW 


10 


J.  H.  Tnimbull, 


II.  Counting -the  fingers  from  left  to  right,  the  numerals 
are  distributed  thus :  Little  finger,  1  and  10  ;  Fourth  finger, 
2  and  9  ;  Middle  finger,  3,  8  ;  Fore  finger,  4,  7  ;  Thumb,  5,  6. 

1,  10.  The  fifth  or  little  finger  is  variously  designated  in 
American  languages,  as  '  tiie  last  of  tha  h  id,'  '  the  least,' 
'  the  youngest  son,'  '  the  little  daughter  of  the  hand,'  etc. 
From  one  or  another  of  these  names,  that  of  the  numeral 
'  one '  has,  in  many  languages,  been  taken ;  but  in  others 
we  find  another  expression  for  unity,  '  one  by  itself,'  which  is 
probably  of  earlier  origin  than  finger-counting.  A  distinction 
corresponding  to  that  which  is  marked  by  the  Indo-European 
cardinal  and  ordinal,  between  one  airiffle  and  one  coming 
before  others, '  fore-est,'  first  of  a  numeral  series,  seems  to  be 
universal  in  language. 

In  the  Algonkin,  these  two  names  are  represented  by 

Massachusetts  pdsuk  and    n'liitt,  nequt. 

Cliippowiiy       pai/zhik  (f'ejig)  ningoto. 

Crce  peiak,  paiak,  niktit 'aome  one,' nikuton 'formcr\y.' 

A  note  in  Cotton's  vocabulary  of  the  Massachusetts 
language  distinguishes  these  names  thus :  "  Nequt,  a  thing 
that  is  pasL  Pasuk,  a  thing  in  being."  This  note  has 
puzzled  more  than  one  writer  on  the  Algonkin  languages." 
Cotton  himself  had  only  half  caught  the  tiuo  distinction 
between  pdsuk  '  one  onlt/,''  literally,  '  a  small  thing,'  and 
n'qut  'first'  or  '  fore-est,' '  beginning.'  The  latter  was  used 
when  speaking  of  a  one  which  had  been  (or  necessarily  must 
be)  followed  by  another,  and  in  this  way  came  its  appropriation 
to  "  a  thing  that  is  past,"  i.  e.  a  former,  thing.  Hence,  Mass. 
nukkone  '  old,'  i.  e.  passed  by,  and  the  ordinal  ne-gonne  'first,' 
and  ne-kutche  '  the  beginning,'  '  it  begins.'  The  prefixed  n' 
in  easteiMi  Algonkin  numerals  is  merely  demonstrative. 

Pdsuk  is  a  contraction  of  piasuk  Q^easik,  Eliot)  '  very 
small,'  the  diminutive  of  piak  '  small,  little.""  Comp.  Chip. 
pangi '  a  little,'  pangishe  '  very  little.'     The  root,  pi,  is  seen 

"  See  Mr.  Pickering's  note,  in  his  reprint  of  Eliot's  Indiiin  Grammar  (2  Mass. 
Hist.  Sec.  Coll.,  ix.)  p.  xlv. ;  Dnponceaii's  Memoire,  389,  390. 

1"  Abn.  ii,  plu.  6(-((i-,  Mass,  piak,  a  'grain,'  'bit,'  or  ' bead '  of  shell  money; 
whciice  the  name  adopted  by  the  English  for  unstrung  '  peag'  =  Abn.  ioa^ban-biak 
'white  beads,'  Eng.  'wamponipeag.' 


I 


s 


( 


"^■■■«sBiWMHR<j*«^^ 


On  Numerah  in  American  Indian  Languages.         11 

in  Cree  peiak  '  one '  and  apis  '  small,'  diaiin.  apids  '  very 
small.'  The  little  finger  being  counted  as  'one,'  j)dsuk, 
bezhik,  'the  very  small'  has,  as  a  result  of  association,  been 
substituted  in  several  dialects  for  ti^qid,  nikoto,  as  the  name 
for  '  one,'  but  the  latter  reappears  in  tiie  composition  of  the 
higher  numerals :  e.  g,  Cree  peiak  1,  nikot-ivaxsik  6,  i.  e.  '  one 
over ' ;  Abuaki  pezuku  1,  nekiid-a's  6,  nekuda"nkdo  11. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  names  of  the  little  finger,  in 
,  North  American  languages  : — 

Alo.  Cree  iskwetchiiclumis  'lust  little  finger.' 

Cliippewny  isUkwe'  nindj  'last  of  the  hand.' 
Ahnaki         askwaiimireisi '  youngest  (last  born)  of  the  hand.' 
Massachu.    mutldnonitch   'youngest  son  {multdsons)  of  the  hand.' 

Dak.  (Sioux)     shashte    ?   Comp.  clii'  stin  '  little ' ;  chatan'  name  of  a  fourth  son. 
Minnitari    (Hidatsa)  shdki-kazki  diminutive  of  shdki  'hand.' 
Mandnn  tingkni  inyka '  little  finger.'     Comp.  Iowa  i-yangke  'one.' 

MuSKOKi  (Creek)  eirke-eclihuswuvhe  'hand's  little  daughter.'^ 
Choctaw  ibbak-ushi-uldi '  hand's  little  son.' 

Pawnee  sAe/s-;>i< 'finger  little.' 

Gallatin's  vocabulary  (from  Parry)  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Eskimo  gives  eerkitkoka  (Greenl.  eMkkuk)  '  little  finger '  as 
the  name  for  'ten.'  The  Algonkin  'tens 'are  related  to  — 
bu,t  not  derived  from  — names  of  this  finger.  The^e  will  be 
noticed  hereafter. 

2,  9.  The  Fourth  finger  —  second  by  Indian  reckoning  — 
is  in  some  American  languages,  as  it  has  been  in  many 
languages  of  the  eastern  world,  '  the  nameless '  (Sansk. 
andman,  andmikd ;  lAiXman.  hewardia  ;  Tibet,  mingmed).  In 
others,  it  is  designated  only  by  its  position  '  next  the  little ' 
or  'next  the  middle'  finger.  In  mission-Indian  it  lias 
received  the  name  of  '  ring  finger.'     Lacombe  gives  Western 


'For  translations  of  this  and  other  Muskoki  (or  Creek)  finger  names,  I  am 
indebted  to  Mrs.  A.  E.  W.  Robeitson  of  the  Tullahasse  mission,  and  !o  Buckner 
and  Hcrrod's  Muskoki  Grammar.  For  other  languages  of  this  group,  I  use  ti.e 
Rev.  Cyrus  Byingtuu's  "English  and  ChocUw  Definer"  (1852)  and  his  Choctaw 
Grammar  (posthumous)  edited  by  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton  (1870),  and  valuable 
vocabularies  (MSS.)  of  the  Muskoki,  llitcliitce,  Coassutti,  and  Alabama, collected 
by  Gen.  Albert  Pike,  in  possession  of  the  bmithsonian  Institution,  which  1  hope 
will  soon  bo  published,  and  with  them,  one  of  the  Muskoki  language,  compiled 
by  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Robertson  and  Mrs.  Robertson.  Eor  the  Pawnee,  uud  related 
Arikara,  I  rely  on  Dr.  Hayden's  vocabularies. 


*"'<J"'»W '  -^""'W*'  II""  r 


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i. 
I. 

|- 


12 


-/.  IL  Trvmbull, 


Creo  atchdni-tchitchan  (f vom  atchaniH  'a  riiip;'),  and  so  Vou 
Tschudi  ill  his  WiJi-tcrbucli  of  the  Kccliua  of  Porn  has  niui- 
rucanu  '  ring  finger,'  from  siui  '  ring.'  In  a  few  languages, 
its  name  denotes  '  becoming  smaller '  —  whether  from  its 
shape,  more  'tapering'  than  other  fingers,  or  from  its  size, 
as  between  the  middle  and  little  fingers,  is  not  certain. 

Dakota     shdsle  ii/okihe  '  littlc-liiiper  next-to.' 

Miiiitari    shaki-kazi-utidn  'that  wliioli  the  little  finger  joins,'  or,  as  Dr.  Matthews 

(Hidatsa  Dictionary)  translate*,  'hase  of  the  little  finger.' 
Muskoki  enkehochffkU stku  'hand's  name-without,'  'the  nameless.' 

As  a  numeral  I  find  the  name  of  this  finger  only  in  the 
'  nines,'  and  here  only  in  the 

Eskimo,  Hudson's  Bay  mikkecliikkamoot  ' nine' = 'fourth  finger'  (Parry). 

Greenland         niikkekrak,  'fourth  finger,'  liternlly  'it  hccomcs  smaller.' 
Algonkin,  Sliyenne         na-so'toyos  'my  fourth  finger';  sohh'tu  'nine.' 

3,  8.  The  '  Middle '  finger  is  so  named  in  almost  all 
languages,  but  it  not  unfrcquently  has  the  additional 
designation  of  '  the  groat '  or  '  chief.'  It  gives  in  many 
dialects  a  name  —  but  not  generally  its  otvn  name  —  io  the 
numerals  '  three '  and  '  eight.'  In  the  Algonkin  languages, 
of  two  expressions  for  '  in  tlie  middle  '  or  '  iialf-way  between  ' 
(Mass.  noeu  and  nashaiie,  Chip,  nawaii  and  nassaivaii),  one 
is  given  to  the  finger,  the  other  to  the  numeral. 

Ahnaki  na"wi-relsi '  middle  of  hand ' ;        nass  '  three.' 

Chippeway  ndwi-nindj        "  "  nisswi  3 ;  nijwasii  S. 

Creo  tdwi-tchitchdn 'mu\(i\c  finpcr;'     nisloo. 

Mass.  (nas/uiKc, 's/inii'e 'half-way');  nish,nishwi'\'shwi- 3;  shwosukS. 

Arapoho  (n«i//it" 'in  the  middle');  nais3;  naisa-loh' S. 

Saul(i  nissoaS;  shtUishic  8. 

Shycnne  no'/oyos 'middle  finger';  naa  3;  na-nuhh'tu  8. 

■?  Blackfoot  nohkh,  noho-ka  '  three.'  [Mass.  noeil  'in  the  middle.'] 

Dakota  mipeoclwkai/a  'middle  finger'  (ochokaija  'in  the  middle'). 

Minitari  shdki-dumdtadit   'middle  of  the   Iiand';   ddmi,   ndwi  'three' 
(dumdta  'in  the  middle,'  nmvah'taru  'between'). 
Muskoki  (Creek)  enke  nurkiiphueiU  'hand's  middlestander.' 

Choctaw  iWiui  Ss/ii')X-/iin)ia  '  hand's  middle  son.' 

Pawnee  skUsi-kadika  '  half-way  finger.' 

Navajo  htillah  ndizi  "  "        {hulali',  eld 'hanA'). 

In  one  dialect  of  the  Eskimo  (Hudson's  Bay)  the  name, 
as  in  the  Shyenne  above-noted,  appears  only  in  '  eight : ' 

MUuklimut  'the  middle  finger,'  'eight'  (Parry). 


i^MmSfnffffflftftf" 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  Languages.         13 

4.  7.  The  Fore  linger  has  been,  almost  universally,  the 
'showing  finger'  or  'index.'  Names  for  4  and  7  are  in 
Algonkin  languages  taken  from  it,  or  from  the  act  of 
showing,  or  their  connection  Avith  it  is  established  through 
the  demonstrative  pronouns : 

Eskimo  (Greeiil.)      t|■i■c^• '  the  pointer.' 

Algonkin,  Ciiip.     imi-nimlj  ' siiowitig  finger ' ;  niwin  (  =  niouin)  ' four.' 

Crco  ittmiliii/ani-trhilchi!/   ']>()iiiter   finger';    newu   'four.'     Comp. 

Mtiih  'tiiiit  yonder!,'   ainih   'tliis  one.'     [As  was  !)efore 
reinnrkcd,  the  n'  prefixed  to  the  Algonkin  numerals  is  a 
demonstrative  panielc,  and  docs  not  belong  to  the  root.] 
Massachusetts   ynii  (Eliot;  =  mi)  'four';  yen  'this,'  'there.' 
Narragiinsett     yoh  "        ;jo  '  there,'  '  that  way ! ' 

Illinois  niwi.nhii  "        newa,  newe  "voilsV,  regardo   \h," 

iwa,  iiwe  "le  voilik." 
nani'sotoyos    'my  fore   finger';    ni'soto    ' seven' ;2   compare 
nisiwo  'that.'    But  Shyenne  nipa  'four'  has  a  different 
origin. 
yen   'four';   ti'v.na   'to   touch   one  to  call  his    attention  to 

anything'  (llayden). 
ni-sui  '  four ' ;  sumis  '  look ! ' 
nape  tokaheya  'hand's  first'  (modern'!). 
nape  apazo  'hand's  ))ointer'  (pnzo,  iipdzo  'to  point  to,  to 
show  by  pointing'  —  >/;)a  denoting  action  of  the  hand). 
Mdskoki  (Creek)    fliifce-esHipttit 'hand's  pointer.' 

Choctaw  ibhalc-ushi-tiklM  '  foremost  (or  eldest)  son  of  the  hand.' 

(The  name  for  4  is  not,  in  any  language  of  the  Chahta- 
'  Muskoki  group,  taken  from  this  finger.) 

Navajo  <t"  'four';  ti  'here,'  'this';  n'la'-te  'there'  (/a  =  hand). 

Apache  Hi     "        ti' this,'  ' who ' ;  ti-tchi ' this  day.' 

5.  6.  The  Thuaibs  mark  '  five '  and  '  six,'  but  rarely,  if 
ever,  give  a  name  to  either  number,  in  American  languages. 
In  Algonkin,  and  in  many  other  American  languages,  the 
tl  urab  is  the  'big,'  'thick,'  or  'stout'  finger;  sometimes, 
'  the  chief." 


Shyenne 


Arnpoho 

Black  foot 
Dakota 


2  The  Zulu  corresponds  with  the  Shyenne  in  taking  numeral  names  from  the 
fingers  of  the  second  hand.  "  The  Zulu  verb  komha  '  to  point,'  indicating  the  fore 
finger  or  '  pointer,'  makes  the  numeral  7.  Thus,  answering  the  question, '  Hovir 
much  did  your  master  give  you  V  a  Zulu  would  say,  '  Ukombile '  '  He  pointed  with 
his  fore  finger,'  i.  e.  '  he  gave  me  seven,'  and  this  curious  w  /  of  using  the 
numeral  verb  is  shown  in  such  an  example  as  '  amahusi  akombile '  '  the  horses 
have  pointed,' «.  e.  'there  were  seven  of  them.'"  — Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  i. 

228. 

'Compare  Latin  pollex,  "vocatus  quod  inter  cseteros  polleat  virtute  et 
potestate."  — Isidori  Origines,  quoted  by  Pott,  'Zahlmethode,'  288.      ^ 

8 


i 


^w 


%  'j^^'^^iu^'^*^*****'"' 


»mmmmiiiiiiiisSSSlil&m 


■  i  ! 


ifi 


I 


J.  H.    Tnmhull, 


Alo.  Cliippcwny         mitchitchi-mndj  'great  tiiiKcr.' 
Crco  (Western)  misi-tchitchitn 


Abnaki 
Miissiiehusetts 


Dakota 

MnsKOKt 

Pawnee 

Navajo 


(C/AiV/i-vrf-iT/x/ 'chief  (yrciitest)  t1ni;er.' 

I.elllqitaiiilch,    niiieklbot  oinaki'cliia   {omidh-u   't;reat'),  and 

Sliyeiinc  iiamii-ii-im'oil.-,  Imivc  the  same  meaning. 
napulmuka   'the    liiiiid's   elder'    (Imnhn   '|)aroiit,    ancestor 

elder  brother.'     HifrK'*)- 
enke  klihki,  and  Clioetaw  ibbak  ishke,  '  the  hand's  mother.' ' 
stas'-si-ri^s 'lar<:e  linger.' 
hitllah  ts('>  '  tliiok '  or  '  bij;  finger.' 


III.  Names  of  miinl)cr  that  are  not  derived  from  the 
fingers  individually.  Names  for  '  one '  and  '  two,'  as  has 
been  said  (p.  6),  must  have  preceded  digital  numeration. 

1,  Tliere  are,  as  we  have  seen,  two  expressions  for  the 
numeral  'one';  namely,  ^ onli/  one'  and  '■first  (fore-cst) 
one.'  In  Algonkin  languages  these  arc  represented  in 
Mass.  pdsuk  and  ntjuf.  The  former  exi)rcssion  is  sometimes 
related  to  the  pronoun  of  tlie  first  person  singular  and  to  the 
demonstrative  'this';  sometimes  it  has  the  meaning  ' alone,' 
'  single,'  or  '  by  itself.'  Its  root  in  Algonkin  and  Dakota 
languages  denotes  'small.'  The  other  expression  for  '  one  ' 
(  =  Mass.  n'qut}  is  from  a  root  denoting  j^'writy  or  /ore- 
coming,  in  order  or  time,  '  beginning:'  and  it  has  in  many 
languages  the  secondary  meanings, '  old,'  '  aforetime,'  etc. 

In  the  Dakota  family,  one  of  these  expressions  is  used  for 
the  cardinal,  the  other  to  form  the  ordinal:  e.  g.  Dak.  tvamhi', 
wa"zhi'-da",'  wa'cha  'one';  toka'heya  'first'  (from  tokd  'at 
the  first');  Hidatsa  (Minitari)  duStsa,  Ivefm  'one,'  itsika 
'first';  Iowa  Tya"gke  'one,'  pakranaha  'first.'  Between 
phonetic  decay  and   dialectic   growth ,=   the   Dakota   'ones' 

*  So  in  Mahuan  (Pott,  'Ziihimethodc,'  299),  and  in  American  Maya,  Huasteca, 
Tamanaca,  etc. ;  and  in  Botocudo  nipo-diik  '  hand's  mother.' 

oihankton  wa"zhi-na.  The  suffix,  dan,  Ihank.  na,  is  restrictive;  'one  on/y.' 
"The  form  in  counting  is  waiir.ha"  (A.  L.  Riggs)  or,  as  Dr.  Hayden  writes  it, 
vmnch,     Tliis  is  furtlicr  contracted  in  the  Ponka  to  win,  and  in  the  Omalia  to  wi, 

«0r  rather,  between  "laziness  and  emphasis,"  as  Mr.  A.  H.  Sayce  (Principles 
of  Comparative  Philology,  16)  prefers  to  call  the  two  great  causes  of  ])honetic 
change.  Compare  Whitney,  I-anguagc  and  the  Study  6f  Language,  70,  95. 
In  no  American  family  of  language  is  the  operation  of  these  princjples 
more  ai)parent  and  more  troublesome  than  in  the  Dakota.  Not  merely  that 
wa'zhidan  is  shortened  to  Omaha  i«j  or  changed  to  Mandan  makh'ana  and  Iowa 
iyangke,  but  in  the  same  dialect,  and  from  the  lips  of  the  same  speaker,  a  name 


•o*^ 


manm 


mmm 


,rrr''Tfiilii 


at 


'*i^ 


'     i    ' 


On  Numerah  in  American  Indian  Laiiguages.         15 

have  becjomo  so  widely  variant  that  they  oamiot  all  be 
confuleutly  referred  to  a  comiuou  root.  In  several^  dialects, 
if  not  in  all,  the  numeral  has  lost  all  consciousness  of  its  roots, 
becoming  a  mere  phonetic  mark.     Compare 


Ponkn     mn 

Omiilii.   tt'i  nnd  miaxtcheh 
Mnnilan  makliana 
Osage      minche 


Dakota        wa'M'da" 
Assiiiiboiii    washtna 
Winiieliago  izlmk'ida,  hezunkera 
Iowa  liia"(ike 

Hidntsa        duetsa,  Itietsa 

and  —  least  conformable  of  all  —  Aubsaroko  hamat'. 

I  was  at  first  inclined  to  refer  the  Dakota  'wa"zhi  to  the 
root  wi"zh  'to  bend,'  from  the  bending  down  of  the  little 
finger  in  counting.  Comparison  of  ten  dialects  of  the  same 
family  makes  it  more  probable,  if  not  absolutely  certain,  that 
it  is  the  equivalent  of  Algonkin  }i(tsuk  'the  least'  or  'very 
small':  compare  with  ivazhi,  u'a'nikhadan  'very  little'  and 
waTicha-dan  'very  little,  none';  wrfVce,  the  name  of  the 
fourth  child  in  a  family,  if  a  daughter  (remembering  that 
the  thumb  is  'parent'  or  'elder'  of  the  hand),  and  tvdnka 
'soft,  weak,  tender.'  With  Iowa  iyagke,  comp.  Mandan 
ungkni-ingke  'hand's  little  one';  and  Winneb.  izhdki-da, 
with  wachek  'young."     In  the  Assiniboin,  nape  'hand,'  with 

may  vary  as  noivassa,  duetsa,  luetsa  (Minitari)  2;  pilika,  pirika,  10;  nahwi, 
dami,  2 ;  bim,  mida  '  a  tree,'  etc.  In  this  last-mentioned  Dakota  dialect,  the 
Hida'tsa  (called  Minitari  and  Gros  Ventres),  Dakota  i/  becomes  d  (ya  '  thou|  and 
ya  'to  go'  =  (/e),  6  and  w  are  interchangeable  with  m,  and  I,  n,  and  r,  with  d 
(Matthew's  llidatsa  Dictionary  and  Grammar,  p.  28). 

'  Since  this  paper  was  written,  I  have  been  favored  by  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs  ot 
the  Dakota  mission  (Santee  Agency,  Nebr.),  with  some  notes  on  the  Dakota 
numerals,  to  which  his  father,  the  Rev.  Stephen  L.  Riggs,  contributed  some 
suggestions.  For  the  grammar  and  vocabulary  of  the  language,  I  could  have 
no  higher  authority;  and  when  I  have  ventured  to  differ  from  Mr.  Riggs's 
conjectures  as  to  the  origin  of  the  numerals,  it  has  been  only  after  thorough 
comparison  of  the  names  in  eleven  languages  of  this  family,  with  whatever  light 
was  to  be  had  from  published  and  manuscript  vocabularies.  Of  the  names  for  the 
lower  numbers,  Mr.  Riggs  writes:  "I  have  thought  that,  as  high  as  'three,'  the 
names  of  numbers  arose  from  sight  of  outward  objects,  as  'one'  evidently  does." 
"  Wanji,  root  twin,  interjectional,  'seel';  ji  [dii]  is  not  necessary,  as  the  form  in 
counting  is  wanchi  (for  wan-e-cha).  Ji  means  'separately';  dan  added  has 
■  something  the  foi .  e  of ' only.'  Nonpa,  2.  Root,  onpa  '  to  lay  on,' '  to  add.'  The 
origin  of  the  n  will  be  sought  in  different  directions,  according  to  the  theory  of 

the  numeral It  may  be  that  it  comes  from  7iape.    While  nape  is  the  whole 

hand,  in  composition  it  may  stand  for  a  'finger,'  which  is  nape-sukaza  =  '  a  single 
hand ' "  [or, '  a  portion,  particle  of  hand  "i]. 


1 


t-*****!/*" 


MWFH«i«MM*m«fM 


immmmmUSim 


!  : 


>  \ 


16  J.  H.   TnmhnU, 

nape-washi  'finger,'  i.e.  '  luiml's  little  one,'  and  .r««;i/-«« 
'one'=='a  finger  only.'  The  Dakota  for  'fingers  is  7iap- 
suJcdza  'hand's  sumll  portions,'  tVom  su  'seed,  gram,  i.e. 
'a  particle,'  which  in  Dakota  more  commonly  becomes,^  ni 
composition,  chi  or  cho,  as  in  Dak.  chilca-da  'very  small  _== 
Assiniboin  c/u7ca-««  =  Omaha  Mn^a  'young,'   Mandau  -aulc, 

and  diminutive  shuke,  as  a  suffix." 

In   Hidatsa  dm-tsa  (otherwise   luem,  nowasscO  there   is 

wider  divergence  from  the  root ;  but  we  recover  the  meiining 

through  shaki-adutsamlke  'fingers'  («/m/c/=hand),  aduma 

'a seed,'  adutsdhi 'fiVo\nt,M  tapering  end  or  part'  (Matthews). 
Aubsaroke  (Crow)  hamat'  has  the  same  liican.ng.     Comp.  . 

Mandan  hdmahe  'small,'  mk-hdmahe  'little  child';  and  Aubs. 

amue  '  a  grain,  a  kernel.'     The  suffix  -at,  -ate,  is  the  common 

Aubs.  diminutive,     i/amaf 'one' =  ' the  least. 

In  the  Chahta-Muskoki  family,  N\e  find  the  two  forms  — 

'one  only'  and  'the  first,'  represented  in 

Choctaw    ach&fa  1 ;  '  sole,  single,  only  one.' 

tikha  '  the  first ' ;  also, '  before,'  '  ancient,'   of  time  past. 

Ummona  '  once.' 
Muskoki    hiim'lcin  '  one.'  ^ 

Coassatti  cha/dka  and  Alabama  chafuhka-schle  '  one. 

Without  attempting  an  exact  analysis  of  these  names,  1 
remark  (1)  that  Ch.  ummona  'first,'  Mmona  'once,'  is  merely 
a  demonstrative  :  Mmo,  himak  ' now,'  ' at  this  time,'  'to-day  ; 
Mmonasi  'instantly,'  &c.;  obviously  related  to  Muskoki 
Mm'kin  V  and  homa  'before':  (2)  that  G\u  achufa  and 
Coas.  chafdka,  seem,  like  the  Algonkin  and  Dakota  'ones, 
to  be  derived  from  a  root  meaning  'very  small,  'a  grain, 
particle,  or  point 'j_«mip^i^^M/i^ an ^U^^ 

~7^;;mr^o7Dl^";U^  younger  b'.^ili^rMOmaha  sanga),  contractea  to 
.un .  ,11  '  a   law.  a  nail '  (Om.  sha-ge) ;  cho  and  .u  '  a  kernel,'  '  g-n.   'seed. 

«  Mrs  A  E.  W.  Robertson  (wife  of  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Robertson,  of  TuUahassee 
Ind.  T^^ritory),  whose  knowledge  of  the  Creek  language  is  a.  thorough  as  that 
of  any  one  now  living,  writes  (under  date  of  Aug.  3d  1874).  I  sec  no 
connection  between  the  [lower]  Muskoki  numerals  and  the  names  of  tod  or 
Zers  unless  hu.nke  1,  may  be  a  contraction  of  h.yu  enke  '  .h.s  hand.  In 
fonCction,  m  and  „  seem  to  run  into  each  other:  e.  g  ,no.et  ^-0-  «on.  /.j- 
becomes  /.fim.  before  words  beginning  with  m;  as  heyun  mechetu.  to  do  th  s 
becomes  kmlnecketU,  heyUn  v.aketU  '  to  say  this '  becomes  km,naketu.  In  a  s.mdar 
way,  Aei/un  «ifce[' this  hand']  might  become  Aumie  one. 


.^**»^ 


msssL. 


-f-fgr^.:,&4^n9V¥m^^^m' 


•ft-**"^ 


On  Numerab  in  American  Indian  Lam/mges.  17 

ehush  'tip,'  'point'  (e.  g.  ihhak-chmh  'finger  nair=' hand's 
point'),  i6(i/fc-<.-A»/-««?i  'tapering,'  elmld"haH  'little,  not  mucl.. 
Pawnee  &»ka  1,  is  evidently  IVom  a  root  found  in  i>Hl-,Uki 
and  pir-mU  'young,'  /«<«Z«8'Ai ' small,'  and  probably  in  >ikcts 

2    Names  for  two  seem  to  come  from  roots  denoting  (1) 
separation  or  distinction,  as  '  that,"  tlie  other,'  (2)  likeness, 
equality,  or  opposition,  (3)  addition, '  putting  to'  or  '  putting 
with,'  (4)  coupling,  pairing,  or  the  like.     These  names,  as 
has  been  said,  must  have  preceded  finger-countmg  or  any 
formal   numeration.     They   are   often   related   to -possibly 
may  have  in  some  languages  been  derived  from  — names  of 
natural  pairs,  as  '  arms,'  '  hands,'  '  feet,'  '  wings,'^etc.     From 
them  or  from  the  same  roots  come,  by  later  derivation,  names 
of  artificial  pairs,  e.  g.  'moccasins,'  'leggings,'  etc.,  and  of 
dual   relation,   as  'wife,'   'husband,'   'brother,'   etc'     And 
here  is  the  explanation  of  that  connection  between  names  of 
the  '  hand'  and  'two,'  which  Mr.  11.  Ellis  regards  as  evidence 
"that  hand  may  =fi»grrs  =fingcr-fiu</err  and  as  "helping 
to  exhibit  the  radical  affinity  which  unites  the  North  American 
languages"  (p.  6). 

Of  natural  'pairs,'  the  hands  have  most  often  given 
a  name  to  — or  received  it  from  — the  numeral;  because 
they  are  two,  not  because  they  "  =  finger-Hnger."  Pott 
(Zahlmethode,  29)  notes  Puris  (Brazilian)  core  '  band,'  cunrt 
2 ;  Hottentot  tlcoam  '  hand '   and  2 ;  Sanskrit^ra  '  hand^ 

'Ti;7^;;^„M^l^o^^^)r^d  'husband/  kl-W  ■wife,'  giU  'two,'  m.d  ki-alsi'^ 
■near'  i  e.  'next  to';  of  all  which  the  common  root  is  found  in  ki-n     he, 
i  e.  'another';  and  Choctaw  tuk-lo  'two,'  tek^hi  'wife.'    The  connection  of  the 
grammatical  dual  with  the  idea  of  correlation,  or  of  collocation  merely,  m  dlustrated 
by  a  peculiarity  of  Keelumn  speech.    The  regular  termination  of  the  plural  is 
-ama,  but  thc,-e  is  a  special  plural  in  -ntin,  for  objects  belonging  to  or  associated 
with  the  noun  in  the  singular:  e.  g.  hhmsl  'house,'  M«a«NTiN  '  all  who  belong 
to  the  house 'or  are  'of  the  household';  and  with  a  noun  denoting  aftinity  or 
consanguinity  this  sufKx  -ntin   forms    a  dual,  inclu.ling    two    individuals    in 
coirelaiion  :  e.  g.  chosa  'husband,'  chosantln  '  husband  and  wife  ;  mama  '  mother. 
mamantin  'mother  and  child';  ususi  'daughter,'  ususintin  'daughter  and  mother  ; 
pana  'sister,'  panantin  'sister  and  brothe,  ';  with  masi  'companion    and  yaua 
'servant'  it  forms  nouns  meaning  'a  pair,'  masmtin  being  mure  commonly  u.std 
for  persons  and  yanantln  for  inanimate  objects. -Von   Tschudi,  die  Kechua 
Sprache,  pp.  95,  161. 


'«..M«^^- 


-1 


t    ; 


PI 


IX 


J.  U.   TrumhuU, 


hdhn  '  anil,'  pakxha  '  wing,'  aiul  netra  '  eye,'  uU  used 
also  Ibr  '  two.'  The  Samoycd  Tawgi,  also,  exprcs.scs  the 
immhor  2  aiul  tlie  snhstaiitivo  '  liund '  liy  terms  nearly 
identical.'^  In  Labrador  Kskinio,  Richardson's  vocabulary 
has  iiKii/i/oJc  and  (igunit  lor  2,  nggu  '  hand '  and  aggait  '  the 
hands.'  In  the  Algonkin  and  Dakota  languages  names  for  2 
and  Ibr  'hands'  or  'arms'  seem  to  be  nearly  related,  cither 
by  derivation  of  one  from  the  other  or  of  both  from  a  common 
root.     In  Algonkin  dialects,  compare  — 


Chip. 

Cl-L'O 

■tiiiidj 
■nisk 

linml' 

two.' 

(■nisk,  however,  being  used  only 
ill  composition,  us  kilchi-m'ak 
'right  hand'). 

Muss. 

■nutch, 

•nitch  ' 

hand  * 

nis 

ti 

cf.  nisin  'copuliit,'  nlchaii  'who 

Almnki 

-reisi 

(( 

nisa 

II 

gives  liirtli  to  u  child.' 

Illinois 

ninch-ui 

ti 

Miami 

• 

nichui 

■  II 

Arapoho 

■ichet 

(* 

nis 

11 

cf.  Inush  '  arm,'  inailuka  '  the 
other  side,'  nesltise  'eyes.' 

Shyenne  "  men  " 

In  one  Algonkin  language  only,  the  Micmac  (of  Nova 
Scotia),  Ave  find  another  name  for  2,  tabu,  i.  e.  'equal'  ('par,' 
'  pair')  ;  but  that  it  had  once  a  wider  range,  we  have  proof  in 
the  Cree  tcpa-kup,  Abnaki  td'ha-tca's,  Mohegan  tupou-ivus, 
and  Montauk  (L.  I.)  UiTpa-wa  7,  i.  e.  2  + (or  2  of  the  second 
luuid).  The  root,  in  the  sense  of  'equal,'  and  of  'enough,' 
'  sufficient,'  is  found  in  all  Algonkin  languages :  e.  g.  Mass. 
(redupl.)  tatup,  tatuppi,  .\bn.  tetebi-tvi  '  equally,'  etc.  ;  Cree 
niya-tipiycvw  '  I  myself,''  tiplyaw  '  he  him-self,'  etc.,  tipi-new 
'  he  measures  it,'  i.  e.  '  makes  it  eqxial  to,'  tepi '  enough,'  etc. 
Mass.  tatitp-pin  '  a  string'  or  '  cord '  is  as  near  akin  to  Micmac 
tabu  2,  as  is  Engl.  '  twine  '  to  '  twain.' 

[The  presence  of  this  2  in  one  Algonkin  language,  and 
evidence  (in  the  'sevens')  of  its  former  use  in  others, 
suggested  a  doubt  as  to  the  origin  of  the  relation  I  had 
believed  to  exist  between  '  twos  '  and  '  hands '  in  this  family 
of  speech.     The  authority  of  W.  von  Humboldt^  and  of  Pott 

2  Benloew,  Kecherches  sur  I'Origiiie  dcs  Noms  de  Nombre,  p.  50. 
"Die  Kuwi-Sprachc  aut'der  Insel  Java,  Bd.  i.  s.  20 ft". 


•i-. 


'who 


On  Nmneralu  in  Anertiutn  Imlmu    Lti>i<iiht;i,'H. 


1S> 


disposed  iiic  to  reco^'iii/o  this  relation.  \  comp.irisoii  of 
the  several  Aljionkin  diiiloots  and  evidiMice  sup|)lie(|  l>y  other 
Anieriuan  languages  led  nie  to  (luestion  it,  and  now  1  am 
nearly  eonvineed  that  the  eonncetion  of  the  numeral  with 
natural  duals,  'hands'  or  the  like,  is  not  l>y  derivation  of 
one  name  from  the  other  ;  that  the  likeness,  if  not  aecidental, 
is  a  consequenf-e  of  derivation  from  a  eommon  root;  and 
that  the  primary  eoneeption  of  the  Algonkin  '  two,'  whether 
expressed  by  Micmae  (aim  or  Chip,  nij,  is  that  of  '  sameness,' 
'  likeness,'  or  '  equality,'  represented  in  the  modern  Chip,  iji, 
Crco  hue  '  80,'  '  sueh.' 

The  first  three  numerals  are,  in  the  Massaehusetts  dialect, 
1.  mi  (jut,  2.  ?i  is,  2.  nish; 

in  the  Chippeway, 

1.  nin  goto,  3.  n  z)',  3.  n  isnwi. 

In   these   the    prefix   is,   apparently,   merely   demonstrative 
(Mass.  ne  'this,'  'that'),  and  docs  not  belong  to  the  root. 
In  the  'two,'  we  have,  I  think,  the  Chip,  iji,  Cree  issi  and  iji, 
'so,'  'so  as,'  'like'  —  which  Baraga  (Otchipwe  Grammar, 
493)  classes  as  a  conjunction,  and  Howse  (Cree  Grammar, 
132,  142)  as  "the  relative  adverb  of  manner"  and  also  "  a 
generic  noun."     As  a  verb,  it  signifies,  in  the  Chippeway, '  to 
be  like  '  or  '  the  same  as ' :  e.  g.  anishinabeg  nind-ui '  I  dress 
like  (appear  like)  an  Indian ' ;    iji-nagwad  '  it  looks  like ' 
something,  etc.     Niji,  contr.  nij,  'two,'  is  'this,  such  as'  or 
'  like  '  the  first  ~  corresponding  nearly  to  Micm.  tahu  '  par,' 
'  that  wliich  pairs.'     The  same  root  is  in  the  Chip,  nidji,  or 
nidf  '  like  myself,'  '  my  fellow,'  '  alter  ego,'  which  is  only 
distinguished  from  the  numeral  by  the  change  of  pronoun 
in  the  second  and  third  persons  —  kidji,  kidf  'thy  fellow,' 
'thy   equal,'   widf    'his   fellow,   or    equal'  —  used    chiefly 
as   adjectives,   as   ividf-anishinaben    'his   fellow-man.'     The 
dialectic  variations  of  this  particle  correspond  with  those  of 
the  numeral '  two ' :  Chip,  iji  and  n'ij,  Cree  isi  and  niso,  etc. 
In  the  Illinois  dialect,  ninchui  is  2,  nichl  or  nigi  "  comme 
cela"  (Gravier). 

If,  then,  Algonkin  '  hands  '  and  '  twos'  are  directly  related, 
it  is  nearly  certain  that  their  relation  is  that  of  derivatives 


M 


iiimwuiiMaia 


mt^ 


sir- 


—  %/-M(4lJ« 


I, 


20 


.7.   //.    Trmnhull, 


from  ii  coniinoii  root,  or  that  tin;  forinor  riM^eivo  tlioir  name 
IVuiii  —  iiiNlc'iid  of  fiiviiijf  it  to  —  tlie  iiuincM'al.  And  this 
appoars  to  he  Iiik;  of  the  relation  of  corresponding  names  iii 
other  Amoriean  families  of  Hpoech.J 

The  Dalvota  'two'  is  the  most  constant  of  all  tho 
numerals,  and  dialectic  variations  nowhere  disguise  its 
relation  to  natural  '  pairs.'     The  '  twos  '  arc  : 

(Sioux)  Dakota  ho'jxi,  nuni,  Omaha  lUDiilKi,  irumfia,  Mandan 
m'lm'pa,  Osage  nomlxnit/h,  I'onka  ndulm,  Iowa  ii6tvc^  Winnebago 
nomp,  Auhsaroke  noinpe,  IJidatsa  ndpa,  ddpa. 

Witl)  these  compare:  Dak.  nape  'hands'  and  7iapm  *a 
pair,  they  two,'  hiTpd  (a  pair  of)  'moccasins,'  etc.,  Om. 
U'lDiha  '  hands,'  '  fingers,'  Osage  tiam/ir  '  hands,'  Fonka  mtiipr, 
Iowa  naw6-pa  '  finger '  =  '  hand's  head,  or  tip,'  Winneb.  niihara 
'  hands.'  untnp-wiiiKirct  '  fingers,'  Aubs.  ndpcre  'both,'  Ilidatsa 
huupa  '  moccasins.' 

The  primary  meaning  of  tlie  root,  o"pa,  seems  to  be  '  to  put 
to,  with,  on,  or  against,'  'ap-ponere'  or  'op-ponere';  as  a 
verb,  o"pa  is  '  to  place  or  lay  any  thing'  on  or  with  another :. 
comp.  o'pa  'to  go  with,'  '  to  he  at'  or  'on,'  and  (contr.)  ovi 
'  with  '  ;*  ao'pa,  contr.  ao",  '  to  lay  or  place  on  '  (as,  wood  on 
the  fire);  sa'pa  'over,  beyond,  more  than,'  used  in  forming 
the  numerals  11  to  19  (o.  g.  ivikchemna  sa'pa  topa  14  =  10 
-f4);  ha"pa  'moccasins,'  aka-sa'pa  'opposite,'  'set  over 
against,'  etc.  Perliaps.  a"pa  'day'  (^a"pa-o  'dawn')  is  from 
the  same  root.  We  shall  find  it  again  in  topa  4.  Tho 
prefixed  n'  m  no'pa —  which  in  other  dialects  varies  to  w  and 
(/ — seems  to  be  merely  a  demonstrative  or  directive,  as  in 
the  Algonkin  numerals,  and  as  in  the  Dakota  verbal  particle 
na  '  take  it'  (imperative  only),  and  in  mo"  or  nu" '  be  it  so.' 

In  the  Chahta-Muskoki  group,  the  '  twos '  have  a  similar 
origin,  in  tho  notion  of '  coupling,'  '  mating,'  or  '  ad-joining  '  : 

Choctaw  tuklo,  Muskoki  (Creek)  hokkdUn,  Hitchiti  tvkh'lun, 
Coassati  tdkoluo,  Alub.  tdkolo-chie. 

The   root  is  represented    in   Choctaw  okla,  a  collective 

♦"Kocile,  Gram,  of  Vei  Language,  notices  that  /fro  means  both  'with'  and 
2,  ond  thinks  tlie  former  meaning  original  (compare  the  Tahiti  piti '  together,' 
thence  2)."    Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  i.  235. 


HMDP 


fif-'ifHittiHiiTimipi 


On  Numerah  in  Amrrlrnn  Ttvlian  Langungi'g.         21 

pwnnuu  U9e«l  f  »  form  the  plural  of  nouuH  and  both  tlio  dual 
and  plural  (J\<\  ttiii^r. )  of  vcrl)S,  with  tlio  iiioaniiins  'they 
two,'  '  tiioy,'  '  people,'  '  tril)C,'  etc.,  motlified  as  <Jcluha  "  all, 
the  entire  crowd,  niiinlier,  or  quantity"  (Hyin^^ton,  Choctaw 
Grani.,:l2,41).  The  Chuctfiwf',  prefixed,  probably  represents 
the  "distinctive  jtrcposition"  ct  'here,  this  way,'  etc.  (id.  42), 
a  demonstrative.  From  the  same  root,  apparently,  are  Ch. 
ho'cu/iln,  conjunction  copulative,  'also,'  '  of  the  same  class,' 
hltukla  (^=rd-okhi)  'twice,'  and  the  verbs  (ok-chi.  'to  tie,' 
and  iha-takht  '  to  go  with,'  '  to  accompany.'  Comp.  Musk. 
mhokolii  '  twice,'  hlim-hohtlat  '  secondly,'  etc. 

Athapascan  'twos'  are,  more  commonly,  related  to  names 
for  '  feet '  than  to  '  hands.'  Chepcwyan  "  h:h  '  foot,'  '  shoe,' 
'track'"  (or  their  plurals),  is  often  used  as  a  numeral  for 
2  or  'a  pair.'  In  the  Apaciie,  2  is  na-ki;  'foot'  or  'feet,' 
ki-e;  'moccasins,'  si-ke;  Navajo  na-ki  2;  ik4  'foot';  kikh 
'moccasins."' 

3,  Names  for  'three'  when  not  taken  directly  from  tho 
middle  finger  or  'half-way'  of  the  hand,  sometimes  have 
the  meaning,  'beyond,'  'further'  ('trans'),  or  'greater'; 
sometimes  'much,'  'the  many'  —  a  plural  as  distinguished 
from  a  dual. 

All  the  Algonkin  '  threes '  are  of  the  '  middle  '  (see  p.  12, 
ante),  except  the  Micmac  tchicht,  whicli  seems  to  have  had 
the  meaning  of '  more '  or  '  again  '  (  =  Delaware  tehitch  '  still 
more'). 

In  the  Dakota  family,  the  '  threes '  exhibit  wider  variance 
than  the  '  twos '  from  the  original  stock  : 

Winneb.  id",  tau" 
Iowa        Ulni/i 
Omaha    thdbathi 
Ponka      thdbthin 
Osago       laubena 

The  etymology  is  obscure.  Comparing  the  Dakota  and 
Aubsaroke  forms  with  the  Omaha,  Ponka,  and  Osage,  it 
seems  probable  that  -am  is  a  contraction  of  a"pa  —  as  nom  is 
the  contraction  of  no"pa  2,  and  torn  of  topa  4.     This  would 

6  Gallatin,  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  215. 


Dak.       ydmni,  ydmini 
Assinib.  ydmini 
Mandan  ndmeni 
Hidatsa  ddmi,  ndwi 
Aubsar.  nam 


* 


I 


siS****^ 


.s'laff-u 


**'";«HS4"..*« 


;    t 


22 


J.  if.    Trumhnll, 


refei  the  numeral  to  the  same  root  with  the  '  two.'  The 
prefix  may  he  the  simple  verbal  yn  (Hidatsa  (7^  'going,'  as 
in  dya  '  they  go  together'  and  '  it  becomes,'  or  more  probably 
the  inseparable  prei)osition  i  (combining  with  the  following  a, 
as  ?/rt)  meaning  '  next  in  order,'  'again.'  Tiiis  would  make 
yam  =  i-ao'pa  or  ?/rt-o>a  —  agreeing  nearly  with  the  verb 
iydo"pa  '  to  lay  on,  to  place  on,'  of  Riggs's  Dictionary.  The 
pronunciation  of  the  numeral  is  marked  ya'mni,  which 
suggests  a  reference  to  the  verbal  root  mni  'spread  out'  or 
mna  '  gathered,  collected  ' ;  but  the  other  dialects  show  that 
this  root  is  not  essential  to  the  name,  and  if  it  enters 
into  the  composition  of  the  Dakota  name,  it  is  probably 
supplementary  to  the  principal  root,  so  that  ya'mni  = 
yam-mni.^ 

The  Winnebago  and  Iowa  names  have,  apparently,  a 
different  origin,  and  Winneb.  ta  may  be  the  (regular) 
contraction  of  taka  '  great.' 

In  many  dialects  of  the  west  and  southwest,  the  name  of 
the  numeral  has  this  meaning  of  '  great,'  '  much,'  '  many,'  or 
the  like  :  e.  g. 

Yuma  (Mqjiive)  Anwioco  3,      '  hnmik  '  \^Tcai.' 

(Cuclian) /loiHufc,  n'ljamuk    " 

Pawnee  tawit,  -taMj/o  (suffix) 'over,  ahove,' /lawa 'more.' 

Ankara        tawhit  (wA  English),  terlme  '  many,' tiiincheu 'jiveat.' 

Navajo  tahh,  Ma '  much,'  na-Ui-ni '  a  chief.' 

4,  Above  3,  traces  of  digital  numeration  become  more 
common,  but  the  fact  that  in  many  languages  4  is  a  '  doubled 
2,'  or  pair  of  pairs,  seems  to  indicate  that  in  these  its 
conception  and  name  were  earlier  than  finger-counting.     All 


8  The  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs,  i"  his  letter  of  July  27th,  before  mentioned,  regards 
mni  as  the  root.    He  writes  as  follows : 

"  Yamni;  root  mni  or  mna.  Mni  is  '  to  gather  in  a  eircle  or  group';  as  i/hmni 
wachipi '  the  circle  dance,'  umchij/api  '  assembly.'  Three  is  the  smallest  number, 
of  course,  that  can  make  a  group  or  circle.  The  correlate  root  mna  is  more 
widely  in  use,  and  the  meaning  clcaren:  ioMNA  'lo  acquire  or  gather  for  one's 
self,'  Mvxyan  '  to  gather,'  opa-mna  '  a  cluster,'  as  of  young  trees  growing  up  out 
of  the  root  or  sttini])  of  an  old  one.  If  yamni  comes  from  mna,  the  change  of  a  to 
I  would  be  for  eui)hony.  If  yamni  comes  from  the  sight  of  outward  objects 
[preceding  formal  enumeration],  then  we  may  find  the  i/a  to  signify  grouping  by 
ca//jn(7  — 'calling'  another  to  the  two.  If  it  springs  from  the  finger  count,  the 
origin  of  ya  is  not  clear.    As  causative  affix,  it  should  come  after." 


;;.,j^BMWiWiiiMWWii'«<MWWiWWW<1l«"»(»WW>li'' 


1 


or 


\  ■    ■ 

On  N'umerals  in  American  Indian  Languages.         23 

Algonkiii  '  fours,'  as  was  seen,  are  demonstrative,  derived 
from  the  indcx-fiiiger;  but  in  two  or  tlu-oe  dialects  tlie  'eights' 
suggest  a  primitive  uumeratiou  by  pairs.  Of  this  mode  I 
will  apeak  more  particularly  hereafter,  aud  here  mention  only 
the  Dakota  4,  formed  apparently  as  a  '  pair  of  pairs ' : 

Dak.  tdjm,  cuutr.  torn,  Hidatsa  tdpa,  Mandan  tdpe,  Pouka 
and  Omaha  ddba,  Iowa  tdwe,  Winneb.  chop,  Avibsaroke  shop. 

There  are  several  Dakota  expressions  for  'pairs'  and 
'doubles';  nrt/«'n  (from  nape  'hands'?)  'they  two,'  'both,' 
sakim  'tvvo  together,'  and  from  the  numerals,  by  the  prefix 
ta,  as  ta-wa"zhi..  '  a  i)air,'  ta-no"pa  '  2  pairs,'  ta-yamni  '  3  pairs.' 
In  tano"pa,  or  rather  in  the  earlier  ta-o'pa,  ta-dpa,  '  2  pairs,' 
we  have,  I  think,  tiie  origin  of  topa  4. 

In  some  languages  '  all  the  fingers'  give  the  name  to  this 
numeral,  as,  apparently,  in  Pawnee  skitiks  i,  =  skets-iks 
'  fingers  [of^  hand.' 

5.  There  's  much  diversity,  even  in  languages  of  the  same 
stock,  in  expressions  for  o  and  10.  In  these  sometimes, 
but  by  no  means  always,  is  found  a  name  of  'hand'  or 
'fingers,'  or  a  suggestion  of  such  name.  In  the  instances  — 
comparatively  few  —  in  which  names  for  'hand'  and  5  are 
identical,  or  nearly  so,  we  cannot  confidently  decide  which  of 
the  two  is  borrowed  from  the  other.' 

Of  Algonkin  '  fives '  there  are  two  principal  types : 

(1.)  Massachusetts  napanna,  meaning  '  on  one  side,'  i.  e. 
'  one  of  the  two  hands.'  It  is  the  Chip,  nahane,  Cree  nabat, 
but  is  not  in  either  of  those  dialects  used  for  the  numeral. 
In  Abnaki  bare-nesku,  Del.  palenacn,  the  name  for  'hand' 
is  added,  the  expression  r-^rresponding  to  Chip,  -hane-nindj 
'  of  one  hand,'  as  in  ningoto-bane-nindj  '  one  handful,'  nin 

T<'A.  V.  Humboldt's  plausible  comparison  between  Skr.  pancha  5,  and  Pers. 
penjeh  '  the  palm  of  the  hand  with  the  fln^^ers  spread  out,  the  outspread  foot  of  a 
bird,'  as  though  5  were  called  pancha  from  being  like  a  hand,  ia  erroneous.  The 
Persian  penjeh  is  itself  derived  from  the  numeral  5,  as  in  Skr.  the  hand  is  called 
pancha^dkhn  '  the  flve-branchcd.'  The  same  formation  is  found  in  English ;  slang 
describes  a  man's  hand  as  his  'fives,'  or  'bunch  of  fives,'  thence  the  name  of  the 
game  of  fives,  plaj-ed  by  striking  the  ball  with  the  open  hand,  a  terra  which  has 
madeits  way  out  of  slang  into  accepted  language."— Tylor's  Primitive  Culture, 
i.  235,  note. 


Mmnv-MniMMMMatMlltllM 


If 


«* 


I 


'■"t'JMM^Ii^TT"*" 


I    ' 
r 

i 

r. 


I  M  U 


u 


ajaSSSiSltMtJJU^JUUIIMa 


^ 


J".  IT.  Trnmbull, 


nahane-nindj  'I  am  one-handed,'  'have  only  one  hand,'  etc. 
The.  Abnaki  noTneda  '5  times'  and  naJ'nalcao  'fifteen' 
(  =  5  +  )  arc  from  a  different  root,  and  are  related  to 

(2.)  Chip,  ndnan,  Cree  niannoii,  nli/<fnan,  Micm.  nan, 
Moheg.  nunon;  and  Sliawuno  nlaUn-ui,  Miami  ydlan-ne,  lUin. 
miaran-ui,  etc.  These,  thongh  perhaps  not  all  from  the 
same  root,  have  nearly  the  same  meaning,  '  gone,'  or  '  spent,' 
i.e.  all  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  Comp.  Cree  nit/an  '  va, 
pars,'  pi.  luyank  '  allcz,  partez,'  a  "  verb  used  only  in  these 
two  persons  of  the  imperative";  niydk  'forwards,'  'onward' 
(Lacombe,  Diet.  Crise);   Shawn,  niala,  Illin.  miara  =  Cveo 

niydn.  ^ 

Dakota  'fives'  are  plainly  digital:  Dak.  zdpta  ,  Ora. 
sdtan,  Ponka  sdta,  Iowa  Ihdta,  Osage  mttah,  Winueb.  mtch; 
Hidatsa  Mchm,  Mandan  kecwiin.  Dak.  zdpta"  =  za  (for 
mka-za  '  fingers ') +j»^<a"  'turned  down.'*  Hidatsa  Hchm, 
from  ciiu  'thrown  down'  or  'overturned,'  with  /«,  the 
intensive  and  frequentative  prefix, '  wholly,  completely,'  i.  e. 
'  all  turned  down.'  Or,  if  we  suppose  the  word  to  have  lost 
a  syllable,  and  restore  it  as  sdki-c^u,  we  have  '  hand  turned- 
down  '  =  Dak.  za-pta". 

Choctaw  taldapi  5,  seems  to  be  compounded  of  ^aJili 
'to  finish'  Or  'complete'  and  ahpi  'the  first' =  ' first  hand 
ends.'  In  Muskoki  chagh'kih'pln,  and  Hitchitee  clmghkupun, 
the  Musk,  chunggi  or  chunki  'my  liand'  may  perhaps  be 
recognized,  but  if  so,  it  is  nearly  lost  in  the  Musk,  ordinal, 
hlisa  choUkepe  '  fifth.' 

Pawnee  sihuks  is  from  iksu-huks  'hands  half;  still  more 
contracted  in  Arikara  ^hehii  (?*.•/*«=' hand'). 

In  the  Athapascan,  la  'hand'  seems  to  be  found  in  Navajo 
dst-la,  Apache  dsht-la  5;  but  only  in  these  two  of  the  eleven 
languages  of  that  family  compared  by  Buschmann,  who 
remarks  on  the  general  resemblance  of  tbe  Athapascan  5  to 
the  1.  Eskimo  (Labrador)  tedli-ma,  telUmet  10,  is  probably 
related  to  tallek  'hand.' 


"This  agrees  nearly  with  the  meaning  given  hy  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs  (in  his 
letter  of  July  27th);  " Zaiitu".  Roots  za  imd  ptan.  Z(i  is  'the  hand';  thus, 
yu-za  is  'to  hold,'  'to  handle.'  Ptan  is  'turned  over.'  The  whole  of  the  hand 
[i.  e.  all  the  Jinyers]  is  now  turned  down." 


ftf iiiiifl 


■i 


:^ 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  Languages.         25 

In  the  Shoslioni  family,  Comanche  motvaka  {mown  'arm, 
hand,  fingers,')  and  in  another  dialect  mo'ovct  (moo-oijet 
'hand  all'),  Shosh.  mandgct,  Yute  manigin  {moo-ninch 
'hand'),  all  give  evidence  of  their  manual  origin.' 

6.  Names  for  this  numeral  in  Algonkin,  Dakota,  and  some 
other  families  of  language,  mark  it  as  the  first  that  is  counted 
on  tlie  second  hand.  This  is  done  (1.)  by  affixing  to  a  name 
for  'hand'  a  particle  moaning  'one,'  'first,'  or  'other,'  or 
(2.)  by  repeating  the  name  for  1  and  affixing  a  word  meaning 
'  again,'  '  besides,'  '  beyond,'  '  more,'  or  the  like,  or  (3.)  by 
merely  expressing  change  '  to  the  other  side.'  Of  these,  the 
second  is  the  most  common  type  :  e.g.  — 

Alg.  Cree  niJcoto-wasik,  nikut-ivassik  =  ■  1  on  the  other  side' 
(Cree  awas  '  further  on,'  aivasd-yik  '  on  the  other  side '), 
Chip,  ningot-wdsstvi  (awdssaii  'further'),  Abn.  nekuda"s, 
Moll,  n'guittus,  Shaw,  nigote-wathwi,  Sauki  kotoashek ;  Mass. 
nequtta-tahshe,  Del.  qnttasch  (the  affix,  adtahsJw,  means 
'counted'  or  '  added ').  —  Micmac  aahugOm  {apch  'again,' 
'  following' ;  apchku  '  going  back'),  and  Mareschit  kdmachin, 
seem  to  be  similarly  formed.  —  Illin.  kakatchui  6  denotes 
'passing  beyond  the  middle'  (Icakatahe).  —  Shyenne  nasutu 
(jnahsoto,  Abert)  is  '  one  over.' 

The  Dakota  presents  two  types  — which,  however,  may 
prove  to  be  originally  identical : 

Dakota  shdkpe  IIi<latSii        aka-wa,  aka-ina 

Assinib.  shd-kpa  Wiiiiieb.      akewe 

Om.  and Ponka  s/i((-/)e  Aubsaioke  ki-ina 

Iowa  sha-kwe  Muiidun      akd-mak 

Osage  sha-pah 

Oto  slia-kiva 

Hidatsa  m  and  M;  =  Dak.  p.  The  only  question  is  as  to 
the  precise  meaning  of  the  Dakota  prefix.  Dakota  pe  is 
'finger'  or  'fingers'  <hand  'points,'  as  in  napehu-pe, 
etc.),  as  is  more  clearly  shown  by  Ponka  7,  pe'namha  (  =  2 
fingers),  and  8, pe'thabthin  (  =  3  fingers).  The  prefix  1  take 
to  be  Dak.  a-kshd  'more,  in  addition  to.'  Then  shdkpe= 
a-kshd-pe='l  in  addition'  or  'besides'  (the  5);  and  Hidatsa 

iFor  other  'fives'  of  Buschttiann's  Sonora  family,  including  the  Slioshoni,  see 
his  Gramraatik  d.  Sonor.  Sprachen,  3tc  Abth.  ss.  1 14,  119. 


Ji:*y' 


-t  /^i,,  "^ 


li^Liianai^iiWiiwi— woi'in'  t 


*mmmmm 


! 


\U 


J.  H.   Trumbull, 

akdwn  =  ak(t-ma  '  ono  over';  comp.  Assiuib.   akdn  'above,' 
hake-cha  '  afterwards,'  tfec.'^ 

In  tbe  Atlialiascaii  family,  Buschmann'  finds  6  expressed 
by  3x2  in  five  languages  (of  eleven  compared). 

7,  8,    The  composition  of  these  numerals  from  2  and  3  ia 
as  common  in  American  as  in  other  families  of  speech,     Aa 
independent  name  for  cither  7  or  8  is  exceptional.     The  8  is 
sometimes  designated   from  its  proximity  to  10  —  as  'two 
lesi;,'  'two  left,'  or  as  -coming  near'  tiie  end;  7,  more  rarely, 
as  '  wanting  3,'  or  the  like.     The  common  expression  for  both 
numerals  is  formed  by  affixing  to  the  names  for  2  and  3, 
respectively,  a  word  denoting  addition  or  repetition.     In  some 
languages,  an  indication  of  '  hand  '  or  '  finger  '  is  comprised 
in  the  name.     The  Algonkin  7  has  generally  the  same  affix 
as  the  6,  meaning  '  on  the  other  side' or 'again,'     The  full 
expression  is  preserved   in   Chip,  nij-tvdssiui  7,  nish-tvdsswi 
8;  com])are  ningot-tvdssu'i  6:  a  contracted  form,  in  Del.  chash 
and,  with  a  guttural  modification,  in  Moh.  ghimt.     The  Oree 
and  Chippeway  languages  have  each  another  name  for  7 : 
Cree  tSpakup  (teypuckoop,  Howse),  Chip,  tupomvus  {  =  tepu- 
awassivi),  the  latter  agreeing  with  the  Abnaki  7,  ta'bawas; 
all  formed  from  a  '  two '   which  is  not  now  found   in  any 
Algonkin  language  except  the  Micmac  (see  p.  18,  ante).     The 
Crees  have  also  two  names  for  8 ;  skwdsaik  {=znishu-awdsih) 
and  aiendneivu  or  ayendneu.     The  latter  is  peculiar.     It  seems 
to  be  formed  of  iyin  '  more '  and  nSwu  4  =  ' 4  again '  or  2x4. 
An  exceptional  name  for  7  is  found  in  the  Narragansett  ^nada 
(Mass.  enotta  of  Wood's  Vocabulary)  ;   perhaps  related  to 
Mass.  nahohtoeu  '  second,'  literally  '  tiiat  which  comes  next,' 
or  perhaps  from  the  index-finger  and  act  of 'showing'  (Mass. 
ndtin-au  '  he  shows  it  to,'    Ciiip.   enoad  '  showing  with  the 
fingers ').     The  Sauki  7,  ndtvia,  may  have  had  a  similar  origin. 
Illinois  parare,   Miami   pohine  8,  mean   'nearly   ended,' 
'almost   done.'     The   composition   of  lUin.   suatatchui,   Mi. 
suaxtetatii  7,  is  not  clear. 


i* Tlic  Kev.  A.  L.  Rijfgs  has  siifrgestcd  a  different  deiivation  of  Duk.  shakpe 
"from  s/iuti  '  the  nail'  and  kpa  or  k/ie  'punched  out.'  The  prominent  thumb 
nail  of  the  second  hand  is  now  pusliud  down." 

^Sj-8tem.  Worttafel  d.  Athap.  Sprachstnmras  (3te  Abth.  des  Apache;,  s.  508. 


""-  1 


! 


mOm 


^ 


'■^'    1 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  LanguayeH.         liT 
In  the  Cliahta-Muskoki  group  wo  have  — 

Choctiiw  (i(Wo  2,  and  un-lidhl. 

-  tuchiiiaa,  itn-lMcliimiS.  ';  ^ 

Coassatti  luloluu  2,  lion-toLolor,  7. 

Alabaiuiv  tdkoldcliie  2,  "  hon-tnkoUi-cliie  7. 

The  prefix  un-  or  /wn- (  =  Choctaw  o«0  means  'again.' 
In  other  languages  of  this  family,  the  names  for  2  and  3  are 
similarly  modified  by  a  suffix : 

Musk,    hokkokn  2,  and     .     kdlU-pakcn  7. 

Hitehiti  tokhlnn  2,  kola-}Hiken  7. 

Musk,     tutchenen  3,  chenu-fitiken  8. 

Hitehiti  tohchiinim  2,  idsna-paken  8. 

One  of  Mr.  Ellis's  mistakes  is  that  of  regarding  these 
adverbial  affixes  as  representatives  of  names  for  '  hand '  or 
'  finger,'  or  '  five ' ;  and  some  of  the  most  striking  of  the 
coincidences  that  seem  to  him  "  to  exhibit  the  radical  affinity 
which  unites  the  North  American  languages"  vanish  with 
the  correction  of  this  error.  He  finds,  for  example,  his  "a2 
finger"  or  his  "  J«2  finger,"  or  tlie  two  combined  as  ''azbaz 
'finger-fing^er':i=hand,"  in  Delaware  cottash  6,  nishash  7, 
old  Algonkin  (Nipissing)  ninskwassoo  7,  nisswassoo  8,  Cree 
"nikutwassik  6,  nishwassik  7,  etc.^  Whatever  the  Basque  zaz 
(conjecturally  extracted  from  Basque  zazpi  'seven')  or  a 
possible  svas  of  "  the  original  Aryan  vocabulary  "  may  have 
denoted,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  Del.  -ash,  Alg.  ivassoo,  Cree 
wassik,  etc.,  we  have  merely  an  adverb  meaning  'further,' 
'  on  the  other  side,'  or  the  like. 

In  the  (semi-Algonkin)  Atsina  dialect,  7,  8,  and  9  are 
formed  respectively  from  3,  2,  and  1,  by  a  suffix  that  denotes 
the  '  fingers '  remaining  to  be  counted.  % 

In  the  Dakota  family,  there  are  at  least  two  and  perhaps 
three  types  of '  sevens ' : 

Ponka  pi  nanba  Dak.        shako-wi"  Hidatsa  shdpua 

Omaha,  pe-namba  Assinib.    shakii-wi  Aubsar.  khdpua 

Osage   pdnompd  Winneb.  shag6-wi  Mandan  kupa 

Iowa        slidhma 

The  first  three  prefix  to  2,  pe,  pd  '  fingers '  (lit.  hand 
'  points ').     Of  the  others,  I  find  no  satisfactory  analysis  that 


'%:tmHtJ*- }"'"»»• 


ll 


28 


J.  H.    Trumhull, 


will  apply  to  hotli  <?roups.  [The  Rov.  A.  L.  Ri,t?gs  has 
suggosted,  for  the  Dakota  proper,  xhake  'a  nail '  and  win  '  to 
bend,'  with  the  proposition  o  'in'  oi-  'on'  interposed,  the 
fore-finger  (of  the  second  hand)  being  bent  upon  the  nail  of 
the  previonsly  turned  thumb.] 

The  Ponka  and  Omaha  '  eights '  are  formed  like  the 
'  sevens'  —  by  prefixing /*«  to  8  ;  the  ilidatsa  and  Aubsaroke, 
by  suffixing  pe,  pi,  to  2,  the  numbers  of  fingers  remaining 
uncounted : 

Ilidatsa  rfoyia  2,  dd/m pi  6,  {pitikn  \0).  , 

Aiibsar.  in'ij)  2,  nOpa-pe  8,  (pirtika  10). 

Dr.  Matthews  (Ilidatsa  Grammar,  56)  remarks  that  dopapi 
probably  signifies  '  ten  less  two,'  and  that  pi  seems  to  be  the 
root  of  pitika  10.  But  the  primary  meaning  of  pi,  pe,  is 
'  pointed  '  (or  as  a  verb,  '  to  penetrate  '),  and  hence  '  point,' 
'  extremity,'  '  finger,'  as  in  Hid.  icpii  and  iehprc  =  Dak.  ehupe 
in  nap-chupe  '  fingers,' i.  e.  '  hand  points.'  In  ^Vpe  '  the  tail 
of  a  bird,'  Dak.  upi.  we  have  another  modification  of  this 
root ;  and  again  in  Hid.  ipl-ta  '  at  the  rear,  behind,'  i.  e.  '  at 
the  end.' 

Iowa  kre-ra-pa-ne  8,  is  clearly  related  (as  a  diminutive?) 
to  kre-jM-na  10.  Dakota  sha-hdo'gha"  and  Assinib.  shakando- 
gJiah  follow  the  '  sevens,'  the  first  element  of  the  name  being 
the  same  in  each,  but  I  must  leave  both  —  with  Mandau 
tetu/e'e —  unexplained. 

9,  very  generally,  is  named  as  being  the  '  last  but  one ' ; 
occasionally,  as  '  fourth  '  of  the  second  hand : 

Ai-G.  Croe  kcka  miirilat  'almost  10.'     ^keka  'au  point  de.' 
Chip.       shcing-asswi  (and  contr.  shany);  comp.  chdyisse  'used  up,'  'all  spent.' 
Shaw.      chakatswi  "  "  "  " 

Mass.       paskugnn  '  it  comes  near.' 
Del.         /)cf/ifa(H^ 'coming  near.' 

lUin.         nignlu-iiinnekki  '  only  one  left,'  lit.  'only  one,  no  more.' 

Arapoho  f/iia(oWi'  or  sialokh'  'again  last,'  'one  after';  from  chia  'again'  and 

tdkli  (comp.  tiikh-su  'last,'  takhu-u  'after'). 

Dak.  Omaha,  Osage,  and  I'onka,  slidnka,  Iowa  shamjke.     Sioux  nap-chi'wanka. 

Prince  Maximilian  von  Wied  notes  tlic  Osage  as  a  contracted  abbreviation 

of  (jiithona-liJieh-wininyka  =  1 0  less  1 .     Thi.s  is  certainly  the  meaninfj,  but  not  a 

tmiislation  of  the  name.     In  the  Sioux,  imp  =  nape  '  hand.'     In  other  dialects, 

shdnka  is  Iowa  ii/am/ke'one,'  '  little  one'  (and,  as  diminutive,  cMnije),  Mandan 

ingka  (as  in  ungkni-ingka  'the  little  finger'),  Or,  '■•'■  shOiga  (ruAwpl.  shinge- 

shinge  'an  infant,'  very  small),  Sioux  cht'chy.  "uOa  one,'  and  in  chi-Ka-dal* 


«i.,-  .....,'! ...JUiWi 


On  Numerals  in  American  Indian  Languages. 


29 


has 
, 'to 


'very  simill '  (with  whicli  compare  tmmd-i-dan  'very  little,'  wa''ske  'the 
fourth  (Rinalc)  ehilil ').  Sioux  rhi'watika  in  9,  seems  to  oontiiin  an  iidilitional 
element,  which  may  l)e  eclu'  'only'  or  ,W,i"  'now.'^  The  mfanm-  is  the 
same,  in  all  theses  iliaiei'ts,  'only  one  (inp'r'  remains. 

Hidatsa  tluttm-pi  im>\  Aul.saroke  a„Hilniil  have  the  same  meaninj,'  — 'one 

finger' ;  and  so  has  Mamlan  iimcii  jie,  from  macn'nna  1. 

CllAHTA-MusKOKi.     Choetaw  rliukali  9  =  chki-rMi  '  soon  the  end,'  next  the  last. 

[The  root,  cha,  che,  is  the  nearest  aipproximation  to  a  conjunction  copulativo, 

and  may  he  translated  '  and  then,'  or  '  next.']     The  same  component  is  in 

Alahama  iln-ch.ilihili-chie  (chie  -  finger)  and  Coassatti  hih,-h,iha,iln.     Ihxik. 

nstapahkin  and   lliichiti   ostii-jHikin,  are  from  Musk,  ostin,  Hiteh.  aitdkin, 

'four.' 

Natchkz  witip'katiiiis,  1  left? 

Caddo  hiwiisika,  4  +  hand, 

Adair,  sikinish,  ' hands'  minus  ! 

Pawnee  d'hfik'sidi-wa,  10  minus, 

Arikara  nucnimwm,        " 

Wichita  chius-skinte,  1  left'? 

Kichai  tanerokat,         "! 

SiiosuoNI  shimmiromen,  10  minus? 

Comanche 


shcmnn'-uwum,         " 

"  se'ermano, 

Yute  surrom-siwne,  " 

"  suioiirroiimsoi/uni,    " 

Yuma  :  Cuchan  hum-hamook' ,  3x3? 

Mojave  pai'<t  '  near ' 

eliju-thouk  '  near ' 


from  wlla  1. 
"    hiweit  4,  stciie  '  hand.' 
"    sfAiiJ 'hand.' 
"     d'luiksidi  10. 
"     nuciiini  10. 
"     chius  I. 

{arisko  1). 

sliiinmer  10. 

shiiiman  10  (Pike,  MS.). 

se'ermitno-wiimpnet  10. 

tom-snene  10. 

toamsniiinimi  10  (Powell,  MS.). 

hnmuok'  3  (humhook  6). 

{Jtipau'ac  'near'). 

{lliotvk  "      ). 


10  The  tenth  finger  — the  little  finger  of  the  second 
hand  — gives  in  some  languages  a  name  to  the  corres- 
ponding numeral;  but  more  often,  'ten'  is  designated 
as  the  'completion'  of  the  digital  series,  'all  gone,'  'none 
remaining,'  or  the  like.  Occasionally,  the  name  may  liave 
been  taken  directly  from  the  '  hands'  or  '  all  the  fingers.' 

In  Algonkin  languages,  the  'tens'  are  of  four  types  — of 
which  two  are  nearly  related : 

1.  Chip,  midasswi,  mitasui,  Illin.  matatehui,  Shawano 
metathwi,  Cree  mitatat,  Shyenne  matoouto,  Arapoho  metaitoCK, 
and  Ataina  matatasits  —  meaning  '  no  further,'  '  completed.' 

"TTf^ly  regarded  this  chi"  as  the  representative  of  the  verbal  root  cAi« 
'wanting.'  To  this,  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs  objects,  with  good  reason,  that  "cAi^ 
is  not  'want'  in  the  sense  of  'lack,'  but  always  of  'aesire';"  and  that  if  it 
made  part  of  the  name,  "it  should  come  last,  as  the  principal  verb.  I  do  not 
agree  with  him,  however,  as  to  the  impossibility  of  getting  'one  (or  rather 
'  finger,'  or--  little  one ')  out  of  wanka.  The  other  related  dialects  seem  to  testify 
unmistakably  to  this  meaning. 

5 


-^■.«*«4s 


•MiiMia 


30 


J.  11.   Trumlmll, 


2.  Abnaki  m'tdrn,  Micinac  m'trin,  Delaware  tnfrllcn,  frllni, 
Moliep;.  ?»V«/iH/<=' 110  more.' 

3.  Massaclnisetts  and  Narra^axuHet  pai'uk. 

4.  Sauki  aiitl  (Northern)  Cliippeway  kwrtrh,  used  occa- 
Bionally  in  ra].id  countinfj.  This  is  either  a  contraction  of 
isku'dtch  (Cree  ukwry,1trh:)  'lastly,'  'at  the  end'  (C'.nip. 
ishhretchagan  'the  last  or  youngest  child  in  a  raniily'),or 
it  is  Nii»issing-Algonkin  kaijoirctah  '  no  more.' 

The   prefix   in    Illin.    mat-atchni.   Chip,    mid-asswi,   Ahn. 
m't-dra,  etc.,  is  the  negative  and  privative  particle,  Ibnnd  in 
all  Algonkin  langnagos,  though  less  common  in  Chippeway 
than  in  eaKtern  dialects.     It  is  found,  however,  as  a  prefix, 
in  many  Cliippoway  words  (e.  g.  nin  gi^asikan  '  1  arrive  in 
time,'  iiin  med-n>s>iihin  '  I  do  not  arrive  in  time,'  '  I  am  too 
late  ' ;  n'md  apdh  '  I  sit  upon  '  (a  seat),  nin  mit-ab  '  I  sit  upon 
the  bare  ground,  the  snow,  or  the  like,'  '  have  nothing  to  sit 
upon ' ;  etc.).     As  a  verbal  prefix,  it  has  sometimes,  with  a 
modified   vowel,   the    meaning   of   'ceasing,'    'leaving   off,' 
•' completing ' ;  e.  g.  Mass.  mahtu  'he  ceases  speaking,'  Abn. 
met-anaskiwi '  imaWy;  llVm.  mita-tewi  '  au  abandoned  cabin,' 
ni  metassa  'I  bury  (i.e.  have  done  with)  him '  =  Chip,  mid- 
dgwena  '  I  put  him  aside,  or  out  of  the  way.' 

The  suffix  dsstvi  is  the  same  as  in  Chip.  ningoUvdsmi  6, 
nishwdsswi  7,  meaning  '  further'  or  '  beyond.'  At  10,  there 
is  '  no  further '  count, '  a  completion.'  Abn.  -am,  Del.  -elen, 
Moh.  -anit,  are  forms  of  the  same  particle  of  comparison, 
meaning  '  more,'  '  above ' ;  and  mid-dmvi  =  m''t-dra. 

I  have  the  more  particularly  pointed  out  the  composition 
of  this  Algonkin  'ten,'  because  more  than  one  writer  on 
American  languages  has  been  struck  by  the  likeness  of  Chip. 
midasso  (the  ordinal)  10  and  middss  'a  legging.'  Mr.  R. 
Ellis"  observes  this  likeness  in  six  or  seven  Algonkin 
languages,  and  infers  that  "  forms  like  -doswe,  -tathi,  -tato, 
■tato,  etc.,  may  be  compared  with  Uchee  (Florida)  tetliah 
'  shoes,'  and  tetAihah  '  feet,' "  etc.,  all  contributing  to  show 
that  the  "  az  finger"  and  the  '' azhaz  hand"  prevail,  and  are 
employed  numerally,  over  the  greater  part  of  North  America 


«  On  Numernls  as  Signs  of  Primeval  Unity,  etc.,  p.  9. 


» 


mmm 


r^ 


>?/,  fi/Irn, 


sed  occa- 

i-action  ol' 

'   (cuinp. 

uily '),  or 

iwi,   AUn. 
,  found  in 
Jhippeway 
3  a  prefix, 
arrive  in 
I  am  too 
I  sit  upon 
liing  to  sit 
les,  with  a 
aving   off,' 
Ling,'  Abn. 
icd  cabin,' 
Chip,  mid- 

t-wds8tvi  6, 
t  10, there 
,  Del.  -elen^ 
omparison, 
a. 

jomposition 
writer  on 
!8S  of  Chip. 
;.'  Mr.  R. 
I  Algonkin 
■tathi,  -tato, 
•ida)  tethah 
ng  to  show 
'ail,  and  are 
'th  America 


I 


Oh  Nuinemh  in  AmeriiMn  Indian  Languages. 


31 


as  well  as  on  the  eastern  continent,  "  the  vi-  prefix "  in 
midanso,  etc.,  "  appearing  the  su  as  a  Californian  and  New 
Mexican  prefix  m-,  which  is  used  to  convert  'arms'  into 
'  legs,'  " 

The  learned  author  of  "  Ktudes  riiilologiques  snr  quelques 
Langues  Sauvages"  (pp.  1:?1,  132)  has  given  an  etymology 
ofmitami  which  is  ingenious,  but  to  which  llicre  is,  1  think, 
one  iiisuperal)le  objection.  He  derives  the  name  from  the 
particle  mi  '  so,'  and  tasui,  tano,  "  a  {)article  that  expresses 
quantity  and  is  the  eipiivalent  of  [the  French]  adverbs  tant, 
autant,  comhien:'  When  an  Indian  would  express  ■  ten,'  he 
puts  forward  l)oth  hands  and  spreads  the  fingers  saying, 
mi-tami '  so  many.'  The  objection  to  this  is,  that  it  will  not 
ap[)ly  to  other  Algonkin  dialects,  nor  to  other  numerals  in 
the  same  dialect:  it  will  not  serve  either  for  Abn.  mHdra  and 
Cree  mitatat  10,  nor  for  Chip,  ningotami  6,  changami  9,  etc., 
in  which  M.  Cuoq  finds,  not  dasso  '  so  many,'  but  asiii  "  en 
BUS,  de  ])lus." 

In  the  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  dialects  another 
name  is  found  for  10,  juam/fc  {piuk,  piogquS,  Eliot),  but  the 
Chippeway  mitami  is  represented  in  Mass.  muttdsons  'the 
youngest  child  in  a  family '  (mat-dm  '  not  after,'  with  -ona 
diminutive),  and  in  muttasp-nitch  'the  little  finger,'  i.  e.  the 
least  and  last.  Mass.  and  Narrag.  paiuk  is,  probably,  a 
similar  expression,  related  to  peauk  (=pi-es-uk,  dimin.  of 
pi-ak)  '  least,'  '  one  only,'  and  to  Cree  peyak  '  one,'  '  alone,' 
as  well  as  to  piko  '  only,'  '  no  more  than,'  and  piyis  '  finally,' 

'  lastly.' 

The  Dakota  'tens'  may  be  reduced  to  two  groups,  the  name 
having  in  both  the  same  general  meaning,  but  not  formed 
from  the  same  roots : 

(1.)   Sioux-Dnk.  and  Assiniboin  wikchemna,  wikchem'ini. 

Ponka    gthe-ba. 

Omaha  chrabcm,  and  g'kh'ba,''  Iowa  krfpana,  Oto  krahbra",  Osage  krabra, 
Winneb.  kherapun  (or  kherapim-axe,  Haydcn).'* 
(2.)   Mnndan  pirakh,  Aubsar.  pirakd,  Hidatsa  pilika. 


7  Prince  Maximilian's  vocabulary  gives  chrabene;  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden's  (in  Proc. 
Am.  Philos.  Society,  x.  407),  g'M-ha,  but  the  second  h  probably  is  by  misprint 
for  6,  since  20  is  g'th'eba-namba  '  two  tens.' 

8  In  this  group  of  Dakota  '  tens '  we  have  a  good  illustration  of  one  difficulty  in 


^.MMMIIWJMIiWlilJMiauifclili*' 


L,  ^IIM 


ijll 


t:'' 


1 


ir  ' 


l;i 


iB  J.  U.  Tnmhidl, 

At  10,  the  fingers  fluit  linve  heeii  liciit  down  arc  fitrai(/htined, 
and  "the  hands  xjircdd  out  side  by  side.""  Wlkchnima  is 
from  ^'7;(«  '  straiglit,'  'nnlxMit,''  and  mna  's|)read  ont,'  with 
the  gcnvrallziwi  [)refix  ol'  Sionx  nouns,  wi  or  «''.  Ilithitsr, 
pitika  is  from  the  \Qvh pt'iki  "to  smooth  out,  to  iron  ch)tlies," 
whicli  ^lattliews  (Hidatsa  Dictionary)  refers  to  pokUi  (fi'om 
kiti^  'to  press  to  snioolhnoss  with  f/ir  hnmlx."'  Both 
expressions  "gehn  ans  von  den  Fingern,"  hut  in  neitlier 
does  a  name  of '  finger  '  or  '  liaiid  '  show  itself. 

How  slowly  the  savage  advanced  in  numeration  may  he 
inferred  from  the  traces  found  in  many  languages  of  a  mode 
of  reckoning  by  j>airs  and  triplctH.  There  arc  sonr^  reasons 
for  believing,  not  only  that  conceptions  of  '  one,'  '  two,'  and 
'three'  (as  '  this,' '  that,' and  'beyond'  —  or  the  like)  were 
antecedent  to  digital  numeration,  i-ut  that  the  first  definite 
conception  of  'four'  was  as  a  M)air  of  [)airs,'  and  that 
multiplication  of  the  lower  inunbi.'rs  often  preceded  formal 
numeration  to  the  higher.  Numher  begins  at  '  two,'  and  we 
may  assume  —  without  venturing  far  into  the  'metaphysics 
of  language'  —  that  2  was  the  first  named  numeral,  though 
an  earlier  conception  may  be  expressed  in  the  name  given  to  1. 
Considering  that  eve.'y  decimal  system  is  in  fact  a  doubled 
quinary,  and  was  cou^a-ucted  with  as  constant  reference  to 

the  way  of  provinp — or  disproving  —  the  'primfival  unity'  of  American  speech, 
on  no  better  evidence  tlian  is  iillbrded  by  l)rief  and  ofieii  inaccur.ite  vocaliularies. 
In  wikchemna  (discarding  tlie  prefixed  particle),  (jlluha,  and  Lhrapmi,  tiie  sanio 
name  appears  uiidc  three  dialectical  variations:  kclie-vma  =  (ilhe-ba  =  kh'iapnn. 
And  the  results  of  'laziness'  and  'emphasis'  arc  so  nearly  balanced  that  —  tried 
by  the  Indo-European  standard  —  it  would  Ite  hard  to  say  which  of  the  three  forms 
best  represents  the  primitive  roots. 

"The  Kev.  A.  L.  Uiggs,  MS.  The  derivation  he  suggests  I'or  wikch'emiia  is 
"from  IV,  the  sign  of  the  abstract  form,  ikche  'in  a  commou  manner,'  and  mna 
'gathered  together.'" 

^ksha  'bent,'  yuksha'  'to  bend,  to  fold,  to  double';  kcha  'straight,'  'loose' 
(un-heni),  yu-kcha  'to  untie,  to  loose,' etc.  yu-kcha"  'to  undcrstiii  d,  to  compre- 
hend' (i.e.  to  straighten  out'!). 

''If  the  Ilidatsa  pllaka  stood  alone — the  more  probable  derivation  would  be 
from  ipi  'extremity,  end,'  as  in  ipila  'at  the  rear,  behind,'  and  ipilakoa  'at  the 
end';  which  last  might  have  I)ccn  contracted  to  piUika.  But  the  meaning  of  the 
name  in  other  Dakota  dialects  —  'unbent'  —  favors  pliki,  notwithstanding  the 
change  in  accent. 


•alf/ht)"ncd, 

'chiiirtia  is 

out,'  witli 

Uidiilsr. 

I  clothes," 
kUi  (,  iVom 
<;  ^  Both 
n  noitlicr 

II  uiiiy  he 
of  a  mode 
I')  reasons 
two,'  and 
iko)  were 
st  definite 

and  tliat 
ed  formal 
•,'  and  we 
etaphysics 
il,  though 
;iven  to  1. 
1  douhled 
ferencc  to 

irieiin  s])ecch, 
vocalmlarics. 
mn,  tliu  sanio 
=  kh'iapun. 
.  that  —  tried 
le  three  forms 

wikch'tmna  is 
ler,'  and  mna 

gilt,'  'loose' 
i,  to  compre- 

ion  would  be 

lakoa  '  at  the 
eaning  of  the 
standing  the 


On  Numerah  hi  Amtriean  Indian   lAinipv  M 

the  numlier  of  the  handn  as  of  the  fingers,  inw  mtioii  K 
ptiirs  would  seem  to  1)0  a  natural  expedient  for  \  u\i  to  tho 
higher  ininibcrs. 

In  various  North  American  languages  of  the  West  and 
Southwest,  wo  find  '  fours '  fornietl  from  '  twos,'  '  eights ' 
from  '  fours,'  and,  more  rarely,  '  sixes'  and  even  '  nines'  from 
'threes.'  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  traces  of  similar 
numeration  are  uncommon.  The  Dakota  topa  4=2  pairs, 
has  been  mentioned  (p.  2-5)-  The  Catawl»a  (North  Carolina) 
purre-purra  4,  apparently  comes,  by  reduplication,  from  na- 
pirra  2 ;  l)ut  both  may  have  been  derived  from  a  common 
root,  found  also  in  dn  pimna  1,  pukte-arra  5,  and  dipk-urra 
6.  In  the  (Algonkin)  Cree,  one  of  tlie  two  names  for  8 
is  ayendneu,  which  seems  to  be  a  'doulile  4'  (see  p.  26, 
ante);  and  in  the  scmi-Algonkin  Sliyenne,  hJch  is  1,  tvtJ/m 
'  a  pair ' ;  rticii  2,  eniCH-anst '  2  pairs,'  ni-nish-ii<h'  '  you  two  ' ; 
na'a,  nd  3,  e-na-hanHt '  a  pair  of  threes,'  '  o  pairs'  (Haydon). 

In  the  Athabascan  family,  Buschmann's  comi)arison  of  the 
numerals  in  twelve  languages  gives  these  results :  6  has  an 
independent  name  in  six  languages  and  in  six  others  is  formed 
as  2x3  or  8x2;  8  is  expressed  as  4x2  in  eight  languages, 
and  9  is  formed  on  tho  3  in  only  one.^ 

For  example,  in  the  northern  Athabascan,  Howse's  vocabu- 
laries^ give  — 

6,  eike  Uihey. 

8,  ellkee  dinghe  (also  narki/ah-alitah  =  2  less). 

8,  enchet'hentir  (2X4)- 

6,  enchet'hiUy. 

In  the  southern  branch  of  this  family,  the  same  system 
may  be  found,  though  less  distinctly  marked  : 

Navajo  3,  t'ha,  6,  has-tdr,  9,  nas-tai'. 

In  another  family,  the  Shoshoni  (classed  by  Buschmanu 
with  the  Sonora),  doublets  and  triplets  are  common : 

Comanche      3,  pa-hist,  6,  dyoh-pafist. 

Chemelmevi  3,  pai,  6,  na-bai. 

2,  wait,  4,  wat-chu'. 

^  Worttafel  d.  Athapask.  Sprachstamms  (3te  Abth.  des  Apache),  §114,  n.  2. 
*  Proceedings  of  the  I'hilological  Society  (London,  1850),  iv.  192  ff. 


Chepewyan  3,  tahhee, 
4,  dinghte, 

Biber  2,  omihaly, 

4,  tenter, 
3,  idhtir, 


( 


-'=-*«ww»«g*i**-ja*«'S'i 


i.''^M»rt*>-»'"^^ 


J.  H.   Tnwi/.ii/t, 


Slioshoni       2,  wit,  4,  mit  suit. 

Ciihiiillo        2,  mfwi',  4,  iiifirirhu. 

Ki7.li  '2.hii,he,  i.hii.iha,  »,  hiifhfthhiiatta.  ' 

In  one  Yumiv  dialect,  the  Crclian,  we  have 

'  n,l,iimimk\  (ijmm/iook',  0 ,  hitm-himnok ; 

thoufjh  ill  tlic  Mojave,  of  the  same  group,  the  0,  7,  and  8  are 
re^MiIarly  Ibrmcd  as  1,  '2,  8  of  tlic  second  hand. 

The  nunioral  system  of  the  Arikaras  is  peculiar,  and 
deserves  special  notice.  Tlie  Arikaras,  or  '  Rees '  as  thoy 
are  called  by  the  French  traders,  were  originally  the  same 
people  as  the  Pawnees  of  the  Platto  River,  their  language 
being  nearly  the  same.' 

The  first  five  Pawnee  and  Arikara  numerals  correspond 
nearly.  From  (>  to  10,  tin;  Pawnees  proceed  in  the  more 
common  mode,  by  repeating  1,  2,  and  8,  as  'added'  to  5,  or 
'of  the  second  hand,'  and  naming  9  as  'less  than  10.'  The 
Arikaras  named  8  fi'om  i',  (|,y  prefixing  a  particle),  and  the 
odd  numl)ers  7  and  0  by  a  diminutive  suffix  to  the  name  of 
the  next  higher  even  number:  thus, 

6,  shapis  8,  tiip-slia'pia  10,  niikh-ini 

7,  tiipslia'pistmn  9,  mikh-ini-wan 

And  so  with  occasional  variations,  numeration  [)roceeds  to 
20,  which  is  'a  man'  —  for  the  system  is  vigesimal;  12  is 
2  +  10  ;  11  is  (2  +  10)  viinus;  18,  ndkugii-ivan,  is  '  lesi  thf -. ' 

14,  ndkugW,  which,  again,  .seems  to  have  been  formed  from 

15,  akh'hxjlt'u  (  =  aM'u  glt'u  'the  whole  foot').  In  the 
next  quinate  the  names  all  come  from  tiie  20,  iri-tau'  (wita 
'a  man'),  those  of  16  and  18  being  the  less  composite  and 
probably  the  older : 


20,  wlttiif 

1 9,  wUmi-akhko-kiiki 


18,  witaw-an  16,  wUiilch' 

17,  wllutchiskiigit. 

The  19  is  literally  '  man  one-not.'     Dr.  Hayden's  vocabulary 
gives  the  numerals  as  high  as  1000,  and  similar  derivation  of 


^Tit.  F.  V.  Hayden's  " Contriliutions  to  the  Ethnology  and  Philology  of 
Indian  Tribes  of  the  Missouri  Vnlley "  (Philadelphia,  1862),  p.  351.  His 
Ariknra  vocabulary  is  the  best  and  largest  yet  published.  For  the  Pawnee 
numerals,  I  use  bi.s  "  Notes  on  the  Pawnee  (and  other)  Languages,"  in  Proc. 
Am.  Philos.  Society,  vol.  x.  (1868),  pp.  389  ff.;  a.id  for  the  Arikara,  have 
compared  Prince  Maximilian  Wied-Neuwiod's  vocabulary  (Reise,  T.  ii.  s.  465flF.), 
and  that  of  Geo.  Catlin,  in  "  Letters  and  Notes  on  the  N.  A.  Indians,"  ii.  262. 


On  Nurntrnls  in  American  Lulliin   Laugii<ige», 


36 


)mlKi, 


and  8  aro 

iliar,   and 

as  tlioy 

tl>c  satno 

language 

iiTcapond 
the  more 
'  to  5,  Ol- 
io.' Tlie 
,  and  tlio 
name  of 


)ceeds  to 
vl;  12  is 

381    thf>'-.  ' 

ned  from 

In  the 

im'  (wita 

)sitG  and 


•git. 

cabulaiy 
vatioii  of 

liilology  of 
351.  His 
ho  Pawnee 
,"  in  Proc. 
kara,  have 
.  8.  465  ff.), 
'  ii.  262. 


C' 


lower  from  liiglicr  nnmltcrs  is  ol)serval»lc  tlirongliout,  combined 
with  the  common  e.xpodicnts  of  vigesimal  notation:  '• 

30,  itain'ii  («'ii//,  Maxim.)  M),  iiil'iknuniu''      2  |iers()iis 
:i'i,  w'ltiiHiiitihokh'ini-  30  +  \'2  :w,  iiiliLiiiianii-wnii      40  — 

31,  wilHHjiilibmriLh'mi-ivan^{'20  +  \'i)  -  39, /'(>//.  iih((»«  (iWio^'i/i  -- 40,  1  not 

100  is  '  6  men,'  98  is  '  5  men  minus,''  and  IMJ,  '5  men,  1  not'; 
and  so  on. 

I  will  not  add  to  the  length  of  this  paper  l>y  pointing  out 
its  shortcomingH.  It  is  olTered  not  as  a  contribution  to 
American  lingnistics,  but  with  the  purpoHC  of  .sliowing,  by 
examples  taken  from  u  few  families  of  American  speech,  that 
it  is  unsafe  to  assume  uniformity  in  the  conception  or  the 
expression  of  numbers,  even  in  dialects  of  the  same  language, 
much  less  in  languages  whose  attinity  is  not  yi-t  proved  ;  and 
that  it  is  ccpially  imsafe  to  assume  that  the  'hand'  or  'linger' 
always  gives  its  own  name  to  the  number  it  serves  to  mark  in 
digital  numeration  —  in  other  words,  that  'two'  must  = 
'hands'  or  'fingers,'  and  'five'  or  •  ten '  =  ' hand ' ;  tliat 
although  a  general  corresimiulence  of  numeral  scries  in  two 
languages  may  justify  the  infen  nee  that  both  came  from 
one  stock,  yet  no  evidence  of  such  affinity  is  presented  by 
occasional  coincidences  between  single  numerals  in  different 
languages  or  between  the  name  of  any  number  in  one 
language  and  that  of  the  'hand'  or  'finger'  from  which  in 
another  that  name  might  have  been  derived;  but  that  the 
value  of  such  coincidences  must  depend  on  the  analysis  of  the 
names  and  the  ascertained  meaiung  of  their  components  or 
roots.  I  have  thought  it  not  impossible  that,  from  a  field  as 
yet  almost  unworked,  some  of  the  results  obtained  in  even  so 
partial  a  survey  might  interest  comparative  philologists,  as 
bearing  on  the  question  of  the  origin  of  ideas  of  number  and 
the  beginnings  of  the  art  of  counting — antecedent  to  digital 
numeration. 

The  comparison  of  only  a  few  dialects  is  sufficient  to  prove 
that  the  process  of  mental  development  in  the  apprehension 
of  numbers  has  not  been  uniform.  The  Algonkin  Indian  and 
the  Arikara  have  not  taken  the  same  way  from  the  primary 
conception   of  number   to  the   full   decimal   system.     It   is 


.01^*:"' 


--%  if<*^^, 


,.*H~r.\ 


IMi 


80 


/.  H.  Trumbull. 


equally  evident,  that  one  ti-ihe  may  have  advanced  further 
tliiui  another  hrfore  resorting  to  finger-counting  or  estal)lishlng 
a  regular  sctiuencc  of  earlier-acquired  conceptions  of  number. 
The  priority  of  the  conception  of  'one'  to  that  of 'two,'  or  of 
'three'  to  'four'  —  or  of  the  vocal  expression  of  either 
conception  —  is  not  determined  by  priority  in  the  numeral 
series.  To  one  tribe,  progression  by  2}ciirs  may  have  seemed 
as  nattiral  as  progression  by  units  does  to  those  of  higher 
culture;  and  the  result  would  be  a  system  —  partially 
represented  by  the  Arikara — in  which  the  even  numbers 
were  the  earlier  named,  and  the  odd  numbers  intercalated, 
just  as  differences  by  halves  or  other  fractional  parts  might  be 
intercalated  in  the  Indo-European  decimal  system.  The  pre- 
digital  numerals  so  formed  might  include  the  4,  the  natural 
order  being 

2  1  4  t{ 

that  is : 

a  pair,  less,  2  pairs,  between  (2  and  2  x  2). 
Or  it  might  stop  at  the  3,  as  trans  2.  No  evidence  is  found 
that  any  tribe  has  advanced  beyond  4  without  digital 
nuiiieration,  and  there  are  few  numeral  systems  in  which 
some  reference  to  the  hand  or  the  fingers  may  not  be  detected 
in  the  name  either  of  3  or  of  4.  But  when  3  = '  middle,' 
'  between,' or  'half-way'  —  as  in  the  Algonkin  languages  — 
it  is  not  possible  to  decide  whether  this  meaning  comes 
directly  from  the  'middle  finger'  (half-way  to  6),  or  from 
position  between  '  pair '  and  '  pair  of  pairs,'  i.  e.  between  2 
and  4. 


i  { 


1(1  further 
itablishing 
)f  number. 
two,'  or  of 
of  either 
J  numeral 
^e  seemed 
of  higher 
-  partially 

numbers 
orcalated, 
1  might  be 

Tlie  pre- 
16  natural 


id  2x2). 
s  is  found 
It  digital 
in  which 
J  detected 
'  middle,' 
»uages  — 
ig  comes 
or  from 
etween  2 


r%' 


**.' 


^>P*-' 


-JtaJSfr 


